UnitedHealth Group’s (UNH) “Overweight” Rating Reiterated at Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed their overweight rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $700.00 target price on the healthcare conglomerate’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com lowered UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. HSBC upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $627.74.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UNH stock opened at $510.03 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $549.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $563.18. UnitedHealth Group has a 52-week low of $436.38 and a 52-week high of $630.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $469.38 billion, a PE ratio of 33.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 26.37%. The business had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.83 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group will post 27.6 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.65%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.19%.

Institutional Trading of UnitedHealth Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its stake 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 buying an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 132.1% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 65 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.