Truist Financial Reiterates Buy Rating for UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH)

Truist Financial reissued their buy rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $600.00 price objective on the healthcare conglomerate’s stock.

UNH has been the subject of several other reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $618.00 to $584.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Stephens reiterated an overweight rating and set a $605.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $607.00 to $546.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. HSBC upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a reduce rating to a hold rating and set a $460.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $584.00 to $581.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $570.05.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 1.6 %

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $501.29 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $488.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $515.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $462.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.64, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.54. UnitedHealth Group has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $554.70.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.63 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $99.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.23 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.50% and a net margin of 4.05%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $6.26 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group will post 27.74 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th were issued a dividend of $1.88 per share. This represents a $7.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total transaction of $451,127.82. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,977,233.31. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other UnitedHealth Group news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total transaction of $451,127.82. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,977,233.31. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total value of $597,581.28. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,527,306.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Richelieu Gestion SA purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Robbins Farley acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter worth about $25,000. CGC Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1,000.0% during the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 55 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 340.0% during the third quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 66 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. 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.