UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Given Buy Rating at Truist Financial

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at Truist Financial in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $360.00 target price on the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, down from their previous target price of $580.00. Truist Financial’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 20.07% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on UNH. HSBC reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $490.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $513.00 to $362.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $563.00 to $374.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Raymond James lowered UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $510.00 to $356.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $461.19.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UNH stock traded up $7.93 during trading on Monday, hitting $299.84. 17,328,316 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,931,325. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $470.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $513.25. UnitedHealth Group has a 52 week low of $248.88 and a 52 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. The stock has a market capitalization of $271.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley bought 86,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $288.57 per share, with a total value of $25,019,019.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 679,493 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $196,081,295.01. This trade represents a 14.63% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO John F. Rex acquired 17,175 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was bought at an average price of $291.12 per share, with a total value of $4,999,986.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 203,796 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,329,091.52. This trade represents a 9.20% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Management Professionals Inc. raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.8% in the first quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 2,224 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,165,000 after buying an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 902 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $456,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 2,578 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,304,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC now owns 575 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $291,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Richwood Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Richwood Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,247 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $2,654,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

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.