UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Stock Rating Lowered by Baird R W

Baird R W downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $355.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $521.00 to $362.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. KeyCorp dropped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $450.00 to $400.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $426.52.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of UNH opened at $313.39 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $386.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $474.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83. UnitedHealth Group has a 52-week low of $248.88 and a 52-week high of $630.73. The company has a market cap of $284.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.22, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.45.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.29 by ($0.09). UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The business had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $6.91 EPS. Analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $2.21 dividend. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. This is a boost from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is presently 37.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,533 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $320.80 per share, for a total transaction of $491,786.40. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 6,033 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,935,386.40. This trade represents a 34.07% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Patrick Hugh Conway sold 589 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total value of $179,645.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 10,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,171,390. This trade represents a 5.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders acquired 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of UnitedHealth Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. NewSquare Capital LLC bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 685.7% in 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 last quarter. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $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.