UnitedHealth Group (UNH) PT Raised to $280.00

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) had its price objective upped by Cantor Fitzgerald to $280.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the healthcare conglomerate’s stock. Cantor Fitzgerald’s target price indicates a potential upside of 20.22% from the company’s previous close.

UNH has been the subject of several other research reports. Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $269.00 price target for the company. Zacks Investment Research cut UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 26th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 18th. ValuEngine cut UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 5th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-five have given a buy rating to the stock. The company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $238.30.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE UNH) traded up $4.26 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $232.90. The company had a trading volume of 6,852,400 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,225,820. UnitedHealth Group has a 12-month low of $156.09 and a 12-month high of $235.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $230,070.00, a PE ratio of 21.75, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.66.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $2.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.09. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 21.52% and a net margin of 4.50%. The firm had revenue of $52.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $51.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.11 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. sell-side analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group will post 9.99 EPS for the current year.

In other news, CEO Larry C. Renfro sold 22,598 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.75, for a total transaction of $5,011,106.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 195,314 shares in the company, valued at $43,310,879.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Thomas E. Roos sold 975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.47, for a total value of $200,333.25. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 24,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,060,726.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 34,630 shares of company stock valued at $7,669,416. Company insiders own 0.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dodge & Cox acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at $1,658,560,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at $1,530,177,000. Capital International Investors raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 399.3% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,132,602 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $809,370,000 after buying an additional 3,304,902 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 146.0% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,541,977 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,085,396,000 after buying an additional 3,289,470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter valued at $391,839,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

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UnitedHealth Group Company Profile

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated is a health and well-being company. The Company operates through four segments: UnitedHealthcare, OptumHealth, OptumInsight and OptumRx. It conducts its operations through two business platforms: health benefits operating under UnitedHealthcare and health services operating under Optum.