Cantor Fitzgerald Reaffirms “Overweight” Rating for UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH)

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

UNH has been the subject of several other research reports. Barclays upped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $560.00 to $604.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. StockNews.com upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Jefferies Financial Group raised UnitedHealth Group from a hold rating to a buy rating and increased their target price for the stock from $481.00 to $647.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $555.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $597.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Buy and an average target price of $614.17.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 0.0 %

NYSE:UNH opened at $559.68 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. UnitedHealth Group has a 1-year low of $436.38 and a 1-year high of $581.50. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $507.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $501.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $515.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.21, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.60.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $98.73 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.55% and a net margin of 3.66%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $6.14 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group will post 27.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 17th were given a dividend of $2.10 per share. This is a positive change from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.88. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 17th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 2,851 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other UnitedHealth Group 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,501 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,812,029.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $579.03, for a total value of $868,545.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 7,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,507,748.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of UnitedHealth Group

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of UNH. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $5,802,231,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 53,573.1% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,352,490 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,238,515,000 after buying an additional 2,348,107 shares during the period. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,117,462,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 107.8% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,306,729 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,141,113,000 after buying an additional 1,196,758 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 49.3% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,617,813 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,904,670,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195,352 shares during 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.