Morgan Stanley Lowers UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Price Target to $610.00

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) had its price target reduced by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $615.00 to $610.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the healthcare conglomerate’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 10.02% from the stock’s current price.

UNH has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $591.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Barclays raised their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $560.00 to $604.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $675.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $555.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $615.79.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNH opened at $554.45 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $510.31 billion, a PE ratio of 33.89, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s fifty day moving average is $584.11 and its 200 day moving average is $532.57. UnitedHealth Group has a 52 week low of $436.38 and a 52 week high of $608.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.00 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $100.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.14 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.66% and a return on equity of 26.55%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.56 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group will post 27.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $579.03, for a total transaction of $868,545.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,507,748.55. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,117,462,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 107.8% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,306,729 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,141,113,000 after buying an additional 1,196,758 shares during the period. Lone Pine Capital LLC bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $480,903,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 30.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,816,254 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,942,956,000 after buying an additional 880,183 shares during the period. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1,125.4% during the second quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 894,006 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $455,281,000 after buying an additional 821,050 shares during the period. 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.