Cantor Fitzgerald Raises UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Price Target to $644.00

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) had its target price lifted by Cantor Fitzgerald from $591.00 to $644.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the healthcare conglomerate’s stock. Cantor Fitzgerald also issued estimates for UnitedHealth Group’s FY2024 earnings at $27.56 EPS.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $597.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group raised their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Barclays upped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $560.00 to $604.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Argus upped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $615.58.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $569.61 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $584.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $533.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $525.99 billion, a PE ratio of 37.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 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 has a 1-year low of $436.38 and a 1-year high of $608.63.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.00 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $100.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.14 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.55% and a net margin of 3.66%. The company’s revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $6.56 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group will post 27.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 55.70%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of UNH. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 84,405,255 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $41,755,280,000 after acquiring an additional 544,740 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,062,928 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $12,893,331,000 after purchasing an additional 94,641 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,039,601 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,094,247,000 after buying an additional 35,533 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 880,183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,772,487 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,920,039,000 after acquiring an additional 21,149 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

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.