UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Given New $650.00 Price Target at Bank of America

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) had its target price trimmed by Bank of America from $675.00 to $650.00 in a research note published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the healthcare conglomerate’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen increased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $546.00 to $601.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group increased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. HSBC increased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $580.00 to $610.00 in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $555.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $615.16.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 2.7 %

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $571.30 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $584.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $532.84. UnitedHealth Group has a 52-week low of $436.38 and a 52-week high of $608.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $527.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.88, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.58. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.00 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $100.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.14 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.55% and a net margin of 3.66%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $6.56 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group will post 27.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.70%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 84,405,255 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $41,755,280,000 after acquiring an additional 544,740 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,062,928 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $12,893,331,000 after purchasing an additional 94,641 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,039,601 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,094,247,000 after purchasing an additional 35,533 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 30.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 880,183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,772,487 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,920,039,000 after purchasing an additional 21,149 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

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.