UnitedHealth Group’s (UNH) “Overweight” Rating Reiterated at Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed their overweight rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) in a report released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $591.00 price target on the healthcare conglomerate’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $546.00 to $601.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Baird R W upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group to a strong-buy rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $546.00 to $559.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $560.00 to $604.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Buy and an average price target of $614.17.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $578.09 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $534.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $508.91. The company has a market cap of $533.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. UnitedHealth Group has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $591.54.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.66 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $98.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $98.73 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.66% and a return on equity of 26.55%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.14 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group will post 27.69 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $579.03, for a total value of $868,545.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 7,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,507,748.55. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 2,851 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $569.88, for a total value of $1,624,727.88. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,501 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,812,029.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $579.03, for a total transaction of $868,545.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 7,785 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,507,748.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. Norges Bank acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth about $5,802,231,000. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,117,462,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 107.8% during the 1st 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 purchasing an additional 1,196,758 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 49.3% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,617,813 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,904,670,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195,352 shares during the period. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $480,903,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

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.