UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Stock Rating Lowered by TD Cowen

by · The Markets Daily

TD Cowen lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH – Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Monday morning, Marketbeat reports. They currently have $308.00 target price on the healthcare conglomerate’s stock.

UNH has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $677.00 to $351.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $355.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Argus cut UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. HSBC restated a “hold” rating and issued a $490.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $405.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $441.87.

Get Our Latest Research Report on UNH

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UNH opened at $303.08 on Monday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $274.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $460.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $508.74. UnitedHealth Group has a 1 year low of $248.88 and a 1 year high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.29 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.91 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 35.18%.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,533 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $320.80 per share, with a total value of $491,786.40. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 6,033 shares in the company, valued at $1,935,386.40. This represents a 34.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley bought 86,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $288.57 per share, with a total value of $25,019,019.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 679,493 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $196,081,295.01. This represents a 14.63% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders acquired 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of UnitedHealth Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. 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. purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 685.7% during the first quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 55 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

About UnitedHealth Group

(Get Free Report)

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.

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