UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

StockNews.com downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on UNH. Barclays upped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $603.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. HSBC upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $626.79.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNH opened at $543.21 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $554.45 and its 200-day moving average is $563.12. UnitedHealth Group has a twelve month low of $436.38 and a twelve month high of $630.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $499.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.39, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.62.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 26.37%. Sell-side analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group will post 27.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is 54.72%.

Institutional Trading of UnitedHealth Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of UNH. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 2nd quarter worth $228,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $36,323,000. Primecap Management Co. CA raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 116,464 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $59,310,000 after buying an additional 4,350 shares in the last quarter. Lumbard & Kellner LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the second quarter worth approximately $1,019,000. Finally, Financial & Tax Architects LLC purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the second quarter worth approximately $442,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Company Profile

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.