Barclays Has Lowered Expectations for UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Stock Price

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) had its price objective dropped by research analysts at Barclays from $655.00 to $642.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the healthcare conglomerate’s stock. Barclays‘s price target points to a potential upside of 24.41% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on UNH. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Stephens raised their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $700.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $627.74.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 1.1 %

UNH stock traded up $5.46 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $516.05. The company had a trading volume of 4,266,046 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,807,852. The company has a market capitalization of $474.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.61, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. UnitedHealth Group has a 52 week low of $436.38 and a 52 week high of $630.73. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $553.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $562.98.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 26.37%. The company had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.83 EPS. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group will post 27.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Sharp Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Sharp Financial Services LLC now owns 885 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $447,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 2,767 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,441,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the period. Kelleher Financial Advisors increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Kelleher Financial Advisors now owns 3,315 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,677,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 758 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $383,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,210 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,624,000 after purchasing an additional 451 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.