Barclays Issues Pessimistic Forecast for UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Stock Price

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) had its price objective cut by stock analysts at Barclays from $642.00 to $560.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the healthcare conglomerate’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 30.19% from the company’s current price.

UNH has been the topic of a number of other reports. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. StockNews.com upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Erste Group Bank raised shares of UnitedHealth Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $700.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $619.05.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 5.3 %

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock traded down $23.98 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $430.13. 4,252,542 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,366,563. The company has a market cap of $393.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. UnitedHealth Group has a 52 week low of $427.22 and a 52 week high of $630.73. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $512.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $539.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.29 by ($0.09). UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The company had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $6.91 EPS. Equities analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of UNH. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 17.6% in the 4th quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,957 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,025,000 after acquiring an additional 1,193 shares in the last quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 9,115 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,611,000 after buying an additional 1,051 shares during the period. Waycross Partners LLC raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Waycross Partners LLC now owns 27,794 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $14,060,000 after buying an additional 658 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 199,536 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $100,937,000 after acquiring an additional 11,426 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lmcg Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC now owns 37,974 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $19,210,000 after purchasing an additional 4,022 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.