Bank of America Trims UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Target Price to $650.00

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) had its target price trimmed by Bank of America from $675.00 to $650.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the healthcare conglomerate’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on UNH. Jefferies Financial Group raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $481.00 to $647.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $560.00 to $604.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $546.00 to $601.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $615.58.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:UNH opened at $569.61 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $584.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $533.63. UnitedHealth Group has a 52-week low of $436.38 and a 52-week high of $608.63. The company has a market capitalization of $525.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.58. 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 (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.00 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $100.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.14 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.66% and a return on equity of 26.55%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $6.56 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group will post 27.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the first quarter worth about $1,117,462,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 107.8% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,306,729 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,141,113,000 after acquiring an additional 1,196,758 shares during the period. Lone Pine Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $480,903,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $1,942,956,000 after purchasing an additional 880,183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1,125.4% during the 2nd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 894,006 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $455,281,000 after buying an additional 821,050 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.