UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Earns Overweight Rating from Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald restated their overweight rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) in a research report report published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $591.00 target price on the healthcare conglomerate’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Monday. Baird R W raised UnitedHealth Group to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Truist Financial upped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an overweight 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 one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $614.17.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 0.2 %

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $588.63 on Tuesday. 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 has a 52 week low of $436.38 and a 52 week high of $607.94. The company has a market capitalization of $541.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $566.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $517.06.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.66 by $0.14. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.55% and a net margin of 3.66%. The company had revenue of $98.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $98.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $6.14 earnings per share. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group will post 27.69 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.34%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 2,851 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $569.88, for a total value of $1,624,727.88. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,812,029.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 2,851 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $569.88, for a total transaction of $1,624,727.88. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,812,029.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,500 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $579.03, for a total value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of UnitedHealth Group

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of UNH. Bell Investment Advisors Inc grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 525 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $276,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.2% during the first quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 35,946 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $17,783,000 after buying an additional 1,129 shares in the last quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 9.8% during the first quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,246 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $573,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Capital Insight Partners LLC grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.8% during the first quarter. Capital Insight Partners LLC now owns 9,045 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,475,000 after buying an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Collective Family Office LLC grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 4.3% during the first quarter. Collective Family Office LLC now owns 1,577 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $780,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.