Wells Fargo & Company Has Lowered Expectations for UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Stock Price

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) had its target price lowered by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company from $677.00 to $351.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the healthcare conglomerate’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price points to a potential upside of 28.12% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also commented on UNH. HSBC restated a “hold” rating and issued a $490.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $642.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $660.00 to $580.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $652.00 to $525.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $508.38.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 11.1%

NYSE:UNH opened at $273.96 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $474.72 and a 200 day moving average of $515.82. UnitedHealth Group has a 52 week low of $248.88 and a 52 week high of $630.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $248.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in UNH. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $6,375,744,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 56,142.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,295,153 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,344,586,000 after purchasing an additional 8,280,404 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $3,846,764,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 6.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,729,585 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $47,519,620,000 after purchasing an additional 5,583,343 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,914,740,000. 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.