UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Stock Rated “Moderate Buy” by Sell-Side Analysts

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-seven research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nineteen have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $456.56.

A number of research firms have weighed in on UNH. KeyCorp increased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. BMO Capital Markets set a $512.00 price target on UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $466.00 to $516.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $440.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Monday, July 20th.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:UNH opened at $374.98 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group has a 1-year low of $255.96 and a 1-year high of $461.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market cap of $336.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.61. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $399.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $373.90.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.94 by $1.44. The business had revenue of $112.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $110.81 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.14% and a return on equity of 16.53%. The business’s revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.08 earnings per share. UnitedHealth Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 19.500-20.000 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group will post 19.85 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 14th were given a dividend of $2.32 per share. This represents a $9.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 14th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is presently 59.72%.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, CEO Patrick Conway sold 1,169 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $390.00, for a total transaction of $455,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,977,920. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of UnitedHealth Group

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 76,863,061 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $31,946,594,000 after buying an additional 3,395,530 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,633,267 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $18,966,555,000 after buying an additional 301,081 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 22,591,042 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $7,457,723,000 after acquiring an additional 824,120 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 18,655,111 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $6,158,734,000 after purchasing an additional 1,155,162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at $4,376,167,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Company Profile

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated is a diversified health care and well-being company headquartered in Minnetonka, Minnesota. Its operations are organized primarily through two businesses: UnitedHealthcare, which provides health benefit plans and services, and Optum, which delivers health care services, technology, pharmacy care and data-driven solutions.

UnitedHealthcare serves individuals, employers, government programs and other organizations through products that include employer-sponsored health plans, individual and family coverage, Medicare and Medicaid plans, dental and vision benefits, and related administrative services.