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

StockNews.com cut shares of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Friday morning.

UNH has been the subject of several other research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $545.00 to $562.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $618.00 to $584.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $566.00 to $571.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Bank of America reissued a buy rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $579.74.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 2.9 %

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $494.43 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $498.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $501.63. UnitedHealth Group has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $554.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $455.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.60.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.63 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $99.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.23 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 4.05% and a return on equity of 26.50%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $6.26 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group will post 27.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 17th were given a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.70%. This is an increase from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.88. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 17th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is 51.34%.

Institutional Trading of UnitedHealth Group

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kathmere Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 17.0% during the 2nd quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 4,456 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,346,000 after acquiring an additional 646 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. now owns 3,331 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,696,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Bright Futures Wealth Management LLC. bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $496,000. IMS Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. IMS Capital Management now owns 3,732 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,846,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Finally, Jackson Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Jackson Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,822 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $7,827,000 after purchasing an additional 714 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.