UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Given Hold Rating at TD Securities

TD Securities reiterated their hold rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) in a research note published on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $308.00 price target on the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, down from their prior price target of $520.00.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on UNH. StockNews.com raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. HSBC reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $490.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $515.00 to $350.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $454.23.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 8.2%

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $315.80 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $286.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.37, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $467.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $511.49. UnitedHealth Group has a twelve month low of $248.88 and a twelve month high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $6.91 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.66%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.18%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,533 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were bought at an average price of $320.80 per share, with a total value of $491,786.40. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 6,033 shares in the company, valued at $1,935,386.40. The trade was a 34.07% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley purchased 86,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were bought at an average price of $288.57 per share, with a total value of $25,019,019.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 679,493 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $196,081,295.01. This trade represents a 14.63% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have purchased 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. NewSquare Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 685.7% during the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 55 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other 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.