Royal Bank of Canada Cuts UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Price Target to $555.00

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) had its price objective cut by Royal Bank of Canada from $596.00 to $555.00 in a report released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the healthcare conglomerate’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on UNH. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an overweight rating and set a $591.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Erste Group Bank reissued a hold rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Barclays began coverage on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an overweight rating and a $551.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a $610.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a buy rating and issued a $675.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $570.05.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 1.6 %

UNH stock opened at $501.29 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. UnitedHealth Group has a twelve month low of $436.38 and a twelve month high of $554.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $462.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.54. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $488.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $515.13.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.63 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $99.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.23 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 4.05% and a return on equity of 26.50%. The business’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $6.26 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group will post 27.74 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th were given a dividend of $1.88 per share. This represents a $7.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 45.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total transaction of $451,127.82. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,289 shares in the company, valued at $16,977,233.31. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total transaction of $451,127.82. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,289 shares in the company, valued at $16,977,233.31. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total transaction of $597,581.28. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,527,306.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Robbins Farley acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Richelieu Gestion SA acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. CGC Financial Services LLC grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1,000.0% during the 4th quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 55 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 340.0% during the 3rd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 66 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. 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.