UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by Baird R W

Baird R W lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

UNH has been the topic of several other research reports. TD Cowen downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $308.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, May 19th. Bank of America downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $560.00 to $350.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $552.00 to $353.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. HSBC reissued a “reduce” rating and issued a $270.00 price target (down previously from $490.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $426.52.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 2.3%

NYSE UNH opened at $310.70 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $281.85 billion, a PE ratio of 20.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.45. UnitedHealth Group has a one year low of $248.88 and a one year high of $630.73. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $395.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $478.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly 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). UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The business had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.91 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $2.21 dividend. This is an increase from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.85%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,533 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $320.80 per share, with a total value of $491,786.40. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 6,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,935,386.40. This trade represents a 34.07% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO John F. Rex bought 17,175 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $291.12 per share, for a total transaction of $4,999,986.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 203,796 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,329,091.52. The trade was a 9.20% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768 in the last 90 days. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of UnitedHealth Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of UNH. NewSquare Capital LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 685.7% during the first quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 55 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.