UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Receives $629.32 Average Price Target from Brokerages

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) has received an average recommendation of “Buy” from the twenty-two analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nineteen have assigned a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $629.32.

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $700.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. HSBC raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,302,065. The trade was a 28.57 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 88.0% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 258,833 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $151,374,000 after buying an additional 121,180 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 8.3% in the third quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 1,069 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $625,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 4.0% in the third quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 1,777 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,039,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $341,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 6.3% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 21,696 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $12,686,000 after buying an additional 1,293 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 7.3 %

Shares of UNH opened at $465.58 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $519.27 and its 200 day moving average is $560.48. UnitedHealth Group has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $428.46 billion, a PE ratio of 30.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. UnitedHealth Group’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.83 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.