UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Downgraded by Hsbc Global Res to “Hold”

Hsbc Global Res cut shares of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Thursday morning, Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on UNH. StockNews.com raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $481.00 to $647.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays raised their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $560.00 to $604.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Argus increased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $597.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $615.58.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $569.61 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. UnitedHealth Group has a 52 week low of $436.38 and a 52 week high of $608.63. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $584.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $534.68. The firm has a market cap of $525.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.58.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.00 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $100.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.14 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 26.37%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.56 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group will post 27.61 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.72%.

Institutional Trading of UnitedHealth Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Violich Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Violich Capital Management Inc. now owns 37,425 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $21,882,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Calton & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter worth approximately $104,174,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.8% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 390,147 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $228,111,000 after purchasing an additional 2,959 shares during the period. Compass Ion Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Compass Ion Advisors LLC now owns 601 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $351,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Finally, Vest Financial LLC raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 168.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 5,839 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,414,000 after buying an additional 3,667 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is 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.