UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Lifted to Buy at StockNews.com

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday.

UNH has been the topic of several other reports. TD Cowen increased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $546.00 to $601.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $591.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $481.00 to $647.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $555.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Argus increased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $614.17.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $580.32 on Tuesday. UnitedHealth Group has a twelve month low of $436.38 and a twelve month high of $607.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $535.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $574.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $519.42.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.66 by $0.14. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.66% and a return on equity of 26.55%. The business had revenue of $98.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $98.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $6.14 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group will post 27.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 2,851 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $569.88, for a total value of $1,624,727.88. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,812,029.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other UnitedHealth Group news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,500 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $579.03, for a total transaction of $868,545.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 7,785 shares in the company, valued at $4,507,748.55. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 2,851 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $569.88, for a total value of $1,624,727.88. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,812,029.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of UnitedHealth Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,117,462,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 107.8% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,306,729 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,141,113,000 after purchasing an additional 1,196,758 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the second quarter valued at $480,903,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 30.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,816,254 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,942,956,000 after buying an additional 880,183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1,125.4% in the second quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 894,006 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $455,281,000 after acquiring an additional 821,050 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.