UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Rating Reiterated by Cantor Fitzgerald

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $591.00 price objective on the healthcare conglomerate’s stock. Cantor Fitzgerald’s price objective points to a potential upside of 1.78% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Argus upped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. StockNews.com raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of UnitedHealth Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $614.17.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

NYSE:UNH opened at $580.65 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $532.75 and its 200 day moving average is $508.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. UnitedHealth Group has a 12 month low of $436.38 and a 12 month high of $591.54. The company has a market capitalization of $536.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.59.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.66 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $98.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $98.73 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.55% and a net margin of 3.66%. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.14 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group will post 27.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other UnitedHealth Group news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 2,851 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were 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 directly owns 29,501 shares in the company, valued at $16,812,029.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other UnitedHealth Group 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 directly owns 29,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,812,029.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $579.03, for a total transaction of $868,545.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,785 shares in the company, valued at $4,507,748.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of UnitedHealth Group

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.5% during the second quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 6,718 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,372,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the period. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the second quarter valued at $210,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 83,651 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $42,600,000 after acquiring an additional 4,113 shares during the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $536,000. Finally, Gateway Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 34.9% in the 2nd quarter. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,211 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $617,000 after acquiring an additional 313 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

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.