UnitedHealth Group’s (UNH) “Reduce” Rating Reiterated at HSBC

HSBC restated their reduce rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) in a research note published on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $270.00 price objective on the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $490.00.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $677.00 to $351.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Erste Group Bank downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. TD Cowen downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $308.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, May 19th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $360.00 price target (down from $580.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $563.00 to $374.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $441.87.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 0.4%

NYSE:UNH opened at $295.37 on Wednesday. UnitedHealth Group has a one year low of $248.88 and a one year high of $630.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $452.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $505.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $267.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.06, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.29 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $6.91 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kristen Gil acquired 3,700 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $271.17 per share, for a total transaction of $1,003,329.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,818 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,035,327.06. This represents a 3,135.59% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley acquired 86,700 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were bought at an average price of $288.57 per share, for a total transaction of $25,019,019.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 679,493 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $196,081,295.01. The trade was a 14.63% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders bought 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. NewSquare Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 685.7% in the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 55 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.