UnitedHealth Group’s (UNH) “Hold” Rating Reaffirmed at HSBC

HSBC restated their hold rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) in a research report released on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a $490.00 price target on the healthcare conglomerate’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently commented on UNH. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $650.00 to $575.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Erste Group Bank raised UnitedHealth Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $540.00 price target (down from $635.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $603.05.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

NYSE UNH opened at $424.70 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $504.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $536.14. UnitedHealth Group has a 1 year low of $417.12 and a 1 year high of $630.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $388.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

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

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid 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 1.98%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 35.18%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,957 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,025,000 after buying an additional 1,193 shares during the period. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 9,115 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,611,000 after acquiring an additional 1,051 shares during the last quarter. Waycross Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Waycross Partners LLC now owns 27,794 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $14,060,000 after purchasing an additional 658 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 199,536 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $100,937,000 after purchasing an additional 11,426 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lmcg Investments LLC grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC now owns 37,974 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $19,210,000 after buying an additional 4,022 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.