Stephens Issues Positive Forecast for UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Stock Price

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) had its price objective boosted by Stephens from $605.00 to $675.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has an overweight rating on the healthcare conglomerate’s stock.

UNH has been the subject of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America dropped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com cut UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. KeyCorp initiated coverage on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, October 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $675.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $625.26.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 5.2 %

NYSE:UNH opened at $578.97 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $532.81 billion, a PE ratio of 37.72, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. UnitedHealth Group has a one year low of $436.38 and a one year high of $630.73. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $587.48 and a 200-day moving average of $558.34.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.00 by $0.15. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The company had revenue of $100.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.56 earnings per share. UnitedHealth Group’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group will post 27.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 54.72%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of UNH. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter worth $44,742,000. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 2.8% during the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 9,102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $5,322,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 124.2% in the 3rd quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 287 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $168,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,061,916 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,884,019,000 after buying an additional 193,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1.7% during the third quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 70,718 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $41,348,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by 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.