Wells Fargo & Company Has Lowered Expectations for UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Stock Price

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) had its target price lowered by stock analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $694.00 to $660.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the healthcare conglomerate’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target would indicate a potential upside of 22.61% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $650.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UNH stock opened at $538.29 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $539.43 and a 200 day moving average of $565.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $495.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.62. UnitedHealth Group has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. UnitedHealth Group’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.83 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group will post 29.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,302,065. This represents a 28.57 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of UNH. Invst LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 20.0% during the second quarter. Invst LLC now owns 1,510 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $747,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the period. Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 132.1% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 65 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 34.9% during the second quarter. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,211 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $617,000 after buying an additional 313 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 6,718 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,372,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 46.7% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 898,406 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $457,522,000 after purchasing an additional 286,122 shares during the last quarter. 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.