UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Erste Group Bank

Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. Mizuho upped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays dropped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Truist Financial raised their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $700.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th. Twenty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $632.85.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $456.10 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $417.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.43, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $514.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $541.53. UnitedHealth Group has a fifty-two week low of $438.50 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.29 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $6.91 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.84%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.19%.

Institutional Trading of UnitedHealth Group

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 14.9% during the first quarter. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co now owns 13,889 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $7,274,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 16.8% in the 1st quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 633 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $332,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Lesa Sroufe & Co purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $459,000. Chicago Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 1,027 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $538,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Consilium Wealth Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 5.8% in the first quarter. Consilium Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 5,177 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,712,000 after purchasing an additional 282 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.