UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Price Target Cut to $555.00 by Analysts at Royal Bank of Canada

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) had its price target decreased by Royal Bank of Canada from $596.00 to $555.00 in a research note published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the healthcare conglomerate’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on UNH. Oppenheimer restated an outperform rating and set a $610.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. HSBC upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a reduce rating to a hold rating and set a $460.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $525.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an overweight rating and a $551.00 price target for the company. Finally, Stephens reiterated an overweight rating and issued a $605.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $570.05.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $501.29 on Wednesday. UnitedHealth Group has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $554.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $462.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.64, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.54. The business has a 50-day moving average of $488.63 and a 200-day moving average of $515.13.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.63 by $0.28. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.50% and a net margin of 4.05%. The company had revenue of $99.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $6.26 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group will post 27.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a $1.88 dividend. This represents a $7.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 45.97%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total value of $451,127.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,977,233.31. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total value of $597,581.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,364 shares in the company, valued at $4,527,306.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total value of $451,127.82. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,977,233.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% 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. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 1st quarter worth about $210,000. McGowan Group Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. McGowan Group Asset Management Inc. now owns 744 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $379,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 31.8% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 250,196 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $127,592,000 after buying an additional 60,300 shares during the period. MAS Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 10.8% in the 1st quarter. MAS Advisors LLC now owns 463 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $241,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, First Western Trust Bank acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $875,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.