UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Receives Average Rating of “Buy” from Brokerages

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) has been given a consensus rating of “Buy” by the twenty-two ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nineteen have assigned a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $629.32.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Barclays decreased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $510.75 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $520.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $561.67. 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 cap of $470.03 billion, a PE ratio of 32.95, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.61. UnitedHealth Group has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.83 earnings per share. Analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,000 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. NewSquare Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

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.