UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Price Target Lowered to $610.00 at Morgan Stanley

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) had its price target decreased by Morgan Stanley from $615.00 to $610.00 in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the healthcare conglomerate’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on UNH. UBS Group raised their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $546.00 to $601.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $555.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $615.16.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of UNH stock opened at $571.30 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company has a market cap of $527.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.88, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $584.21 and its 200 day moving average is $532.84. UnitedHealth Group has a 1-year low of $436.38 and a 1-year high of $608.63.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.00 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $100.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.14 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.55% and a net margin of 3.66%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.56 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group will post 27.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.70%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 84,405,255 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $41,755,280,000 after acquiring an additional 544,740 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,062,928 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $12,893,331,000 after acquiring an additional 94,641 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,039,601 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,094,247,000 after acquiring an additional 35,533 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 30.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,816,254 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,942,956,000 after purchasing an additional 880,183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,772,487 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,920,039,000 after purchasing an additional 21,149 shares in the last quarter. 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.