Barclays Cuts UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Price Target to $362.00

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) had its target price reduced by Barclays from $513.00 to $362.00 in a research note released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the healthcare conglomerate’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on UNH. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $677.00 to $351.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $563.00 to $374.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $700.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Argus cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $486.00.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 6.2%

Shares of UNH stock opened at $291.24 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $264.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. UnitedHealth Group has a fifty-two week low of $248.88 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $470.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $513.60.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.91 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.88%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.18%.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, CFO John F. Rex purchased 17,175 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $291.12 per share, for a total transaction of $4,999,986.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 203,796 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,329,091.52. The trade was a 9.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,533 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was bought at an average price of $320.80 per share, with a total value of $491,786.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,033 shares in the company, valued at $1,935,386.40. This represents a 34.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders bought 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of UNH. NewSquare Capital LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 685.7% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. 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.