Royal Bank of Canada Lowers UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Price Target to $355.00

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) had its price target decreased by Royal Bank of Canada from $525.00 to $355.00 in a research report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the healthcare conglomerate’s stock.

UNH has been the topic of a number of other reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $563.00 to $374.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Argus lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Raymond James lowered UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $486.00.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 6.2%

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $291.24 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group has a 1 year low of $248.88 and a 1 year high of $630.73. The company has a market capitalization of $264.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $470.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $513.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly 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). UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The company had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $6.91 EPS. Research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is 35.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,533 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was bought 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,935,386.40. This represents a 34.07% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John H. Noseworthy bought 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $312.16 per share, for a total transaction of $93,648.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,063 shares in the company, valued at $1,892,626.08. This trade represents a 5.21% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. NewSquare Capital LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 685.7% during the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 55 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. 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.