UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on UNH. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $618.00 to $584.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Baird R W upgraded UnitedHealth Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $545.00 to $562.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $596.00 to $555.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird began coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $597.00 target price on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $579.74.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 4.8 %

Shares of UNH stock traded up $23.14 on Friday, hitting $509.58. The company had a trading volume of 22,723,427 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,298,235. The firm has a market cap of $469.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $498.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $502.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. UnitedHealth Group has a twelve month low of $436.38 and a twelve month high of $554.70.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.63 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $99.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.23 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.50% and a net margin of 4.05%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $6.26 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group will post 27.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of UnitedHealth Group

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of UNH. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at $5,802,231,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 53,573.1% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,352,490 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,238,515,000 after purchasing an additional 2,348,107 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the first quarter valued at $1,117,462,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 107.8% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,306,729 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,141,113,000 after buying an additional 1,196,758 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 49.3% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,617,813 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,904,670,000 after buying an additional 1,195,352 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About UnitedHealth Group

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated operates as a diversified health care company in the United States. The company operates through four segments: UnitedHealthcare, Optum Health, Optum Insight, and Optum Rx. The UnitedHealthcare segment offers consumer-oriented health benefit plans and services for national employers, public sector employers, mid-sized employers, small businesses, and individuals; health care coverage, and health and well-being services to individuals age 50 and older addressing their needs; Medicaid plans, children's health insurance and health care programs; and health and dental benefits, and hospital and clinical services, as well as health care benefits products and services to state programs caring for the economically disadvantaged, medically underserved, and those without the benefit of employer-funded health care coverage.