Brokerages Set UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) PT at $615.53

Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seventeen have issued a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $615.53.

Several brokerages have issued reports on UNH. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. HSBC cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. KeyCorp began coverage on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $675.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Stephens reduced their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $632.00 to $605.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter valued at $27,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 152.4% during 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. Macroview Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 671.4% during the second quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 54 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Delos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 757.1% in the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 60 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $593.30 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $582.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $548.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. UnitedHealth Group has a 1-year low of $436.38 and a 1-year high of $630.73. The stock has a market cap of $546.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.58.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.00 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $100.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 prior year, the business earned $6.56 EPS. On average, analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group will post 27.61 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.72%.

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.