Barclays Lowers UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Price Target to $642.00

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) had its price target dropped by investment analysts at Barclays from $655.00 to $642.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the healthcare conglomerate’s stock. Barclays‘s price target would suggest a potential upside of 24.41% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on UNH. Oppenheimer upped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group lowered their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $627.74.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock traded up $5.46 during trading on Friday, hitting $516.05. 4,266,046 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,807,852. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $553.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $562.98. UnitedHealth Group has a twelve month low of $436.38 and a twelve month high of $630.73. The stock has a market cap of $474.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.61, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 26.37%. The business had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.83 EPS. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group will post 27.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Delta Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.0% in the third quarter. Delta Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,650 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $965,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. First PREMIER Bank raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 274 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $160,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Genesee Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.9% in the third quarter. Genesee Capital Advisors LLC now owns 990 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $579,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Jmac Enterprises LLC raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.2% during the third quarter. Jmac Enterprises LLC now owns 823 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $481,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. Finally, Matrix Private Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Matrix Private Capital Group LLC now owns 542 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $276,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.