UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Earns “Overweight” Rating from Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald restated their overweight rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has a $591.00 price target on the healthcare conglomerate’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. StockNews.com assumed coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a buy rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $592.00 to $572.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an overweight rating and issued a $587.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, July 14th. UBS Group increased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $510.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 19th. Finally, SVB Securities cut their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $560.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $575.65.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:UNH opened at $486.70 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. UnitedHealth Group has a 1-year low of $445.68 and a 1-year high of $558.10. The company’s fifty day moving average is $492.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $486.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $450.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.66.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 14th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.92 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $92.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.97 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.72% and a net margin of 6.06%. The business’s revenue was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.57 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group will post 24.83 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 11th will be issued a dividend of $1.88 per share. This represents a $7.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 8th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, CEO Andrew Witty sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $506.19, for a total value of $2,024,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 78,573 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,772,866.87. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Chelsea Counsel Co. acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. 25 LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the first quarter worth about $28,000. Freedom Wealth Alliance LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the first quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Kalos Management Inc. acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 1st quarter worth about $34,000. 85.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Company Profile

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated operates as a diversified health care company in the United States. It 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.