UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Downgraded to “Hold” at StockNews.com

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $597.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $555.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $591.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Monday, September 16th. TD Cowen increased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $546.00 to $601.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Argus upped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $614.17.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UNH stock opened at $575.59 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $578.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $522.51. UnitedHealth Group has a 12-month low of $436.38 and a 12-month high of $607.94. The company has a market cap of $529.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $98.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $6.14 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group will post 27.69 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Trading of UnitedHealth Group

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