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

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) had its price objective lowered by Truist Financial from $360.00 to $345.00 in a research note released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the healthcare conglomerate’s stock.

UNH has been the topic of several other reports. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. HSBC reiterated a “reduce” rating and set a $270.00 price target (down from $490.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Wolfe Research reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $501.00 to $390.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Bank of America lowered UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $560.00 to $350.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $515.00 to $350.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $394.43.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 2.0%

NYSE UNH opened at $282.45 on Wednesday. UnitedHealth Group has a fifty-two week low of $248.88 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $304.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $433.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $256.22 billion, a PE ratio of 11.83, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.45.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.29 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 5.39% and a return on equity of 26.29%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.91 EPS. Equities analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $2.21 dividend. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.13%. This is an increase from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 37.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Kristen Gil acquired 3,700 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was bought at an average price of $271.17 per share, with a total value of $1,003,329.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,818 shares in the company, valued at $1,035,327.06. This represents a 3,135.59% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO John F. Rex bought 17,175 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $291.12 per share, for a total transaction of $4,999,986.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer owned 203,796 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,329,091.52. This represents a 9.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 176.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 44,249 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $22,384,000 after purchasing an additional 28,231 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 137.1% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,019 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $2,033,000 after buying an additional 2,324 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 263,655 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $133,373,000 after acquiring an additional 9,872 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 52.1% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,734 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,889,000 after acquiring an additional 1,279 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. now owns 541 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $274,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.