TD Cowen Cuts United Airlines (NASDAQ:UAL) Price Target to $128.00

United Airlines (NASDAQ:UAL) had its price objective cut by TD Cowen from $140.00 to $128.00 in a research report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the transportation company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on UAL. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and set a $136.00 price objective on shares of United Airlines in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of United Airlines in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Barclays upped their price target on shares of United Airlines from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of United Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of United Airlines in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $135.14.

United Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ UAL opened at $90.68 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $109.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $104.56. United Airlines has a 52-week low of $52.00 and a 52-week high of $119.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.25.

United Airlines (NASDAQ:UAL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The transportation company reported $3.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $15.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.35 billion. United Airlines had a return on equity of 25.13% and a net margin of 5.68%.The business’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.26 earnings per share. United Airlines has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.000-1.500 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 12.000-14.000 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that United Airlines will post 12.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other United Airlines news, President Brett J. Hart sold 19,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.45, for a total value of $2,022,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president directly owned 264,638 shares in the company, valued at $28,170,715.10. This represents a 6.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of United Airlines

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in United Airlines by 1.0% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,330,017 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,972,589,000 after buying an additional 368,401 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC raised its position in United Airlines by 1.8% in the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 14,773,585 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,425,651,000 after acquiring an additional 258,670 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in United Airlines by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,571,093 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $921,406,000 after acquiring an additional 489,795 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in United Airlines by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,012,731 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,015,218,000 after acquiring an additional 68,565 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of United Airlines by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 7,265,530 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $812,428,000 after purchasing an additional 22,464 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.69% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about United Airlines

Here are the key news stories impacting United Airlines this week:

• Positive Sentiment: United reported a record day of bookings and is seeing strong travel demand heading into spring and summer, which supports revenue and unit-revenue outlooks. United Airlines just set a daily record for bookings, but that isn’t helping the stock (MarketWatch)
• Positive Sentiment: Barron’s highlights that despite fuel fears, the record bookings day provides operational and revenue momentum that could help UAL navigate a near-term earnings hit from higher fuel. United Airlines Just Had Its Best Ever Day of Bookings. There’s Hope Amid Fuel Fears. (Barron’s)
• Neutral Sentiment: Options-market activity shows increased trader interest in UAL, indicating higher volatility expectations but not a clear directional bet. Watch open interest and put/call skew for short-term signals. Market Whales and Their Recent Bets on UAL Options (Benzinga)
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent price swings have prompted fresh valuation checks and analyst commentary; some research pieces discuss whether the selloff creates a buy opportunity, but conclusions vary. United Airlines Holdings (UAL) Valuation Check After Recent Share Price Volatility (Yahoo Finance)
• Neutral Sentiment: Press item about DriveWealth / Ualá expanding U.S. stock investing in Mexico is unrelated to United Airlines’ fundamentals and likely has no material impact on UAL. DriveWealth Powers Ualá’s Launch of U.S. Stock Investing in Mexico (Business Wire)
• Negative Sentiment: Rising crude and jet-fuel prices tied to the Iran conflict are pressuring airline margins; macro commentary warns airline stocks face significant downside if oil stays elevated. Higher fuel costs directly hit UAL’s profitability and could offset booking strength. Airline stocks headed for a ‘world of hurt’ on oil spike: Peter Brandt (MSN)
• Negative Sentiment: TD Cowen downgraded United from “strong-buy” to “hold,” signaling reduced analyst conviction and likely contributing to selling pressure. Analyst coverage note (Zacks)
• Negative Sentiment: Broader analyst pieces (MarketBeat/MarketWatch) argue the market selloff in airlines after the Iran attacks may be justified given rising jet-fuel cracks, canceled Middle East flying and the potential for weaker leisure demand if energy-driven inflation persists. Is the Airline Stock Dip After the Iran Attacks Justified? (MarketBeat)

About United Airlines

United Airlines Holdings, Inc operates United Airlines, a major U.S. full-service passenger carrier providing scheduled air transportation for passengers and cargo. The company offers a comprehensive route network that covers domestic markets across the United States as well as extensive international service to Europe, Asia, Latin America, and the Pacific. United operates a mixed fleet of narrow- and wide-body aircraft on point-to-point and hub-and-spoke routes, and supports corporate and leisure travel through offerings such as premium cabins, basic economy, and ancillary services including baggage, seat selection and in-flight amenities.

In addition to passenger operations, United provides cargo services through United Cargo, handling freight, mail and specialized shipments.