UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Price Target Cut to $660.00 by Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) had its price objective cut by Wells Fargo & Company from $694.00 to $660.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the healthcare conglomerate’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on UNH. Hsbc Global Res raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $700.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $542.52 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $499.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. UnitedHealth Group has a one year low of $436.38 and a one year high of $630.73. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $540.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $565.06.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The company had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.83 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group will post 29.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were given a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.19%.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,302,065. The trade was a 28.57 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 152.4% in the third quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 53 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 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.