UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Downgraded to “Neutral” Rating by Robert W. Baird

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) was downgraded by Robert W. Baird from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, June 11th, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a $312.00 price target on the healthcare conglomerate’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s target price indicates a potential upside of 1.66% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $360.00 price objective (down from $580.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Monday, May 19th. HSBC reaffirmed a “reduce” rating and set a $270.00 target price (down previously from $490.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $355.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 16th. TD Cowen cut UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $308.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on UnitedHealth Group to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $426.52.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UNH stock traded down $1.97 on Wednesday, reaching $306.90. The stock had a trading volume of 11,176,139 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,300,838. The stock has a market cap of $278.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $376.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $469.08. UnitedHealth Group has a 1 year low of $248.88 and a 1 year high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its 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 analysts’ expectations of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 5.39% and a return on equity of 26.29%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $6.91 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Kristen Gil bought 3,700 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $271.17 per share, for a total transaction of $1,003,329.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 3,818 shares in the company, valued at $1,035,327.06. This represents a 3,135.59% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Patrick Hugh Conway sold 589 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total value of $179,645.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 10,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,171,390. This trade represents a 5.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 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 insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital & Planning LLC increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 19.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 491 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $248,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 176.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 44,249 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $22,384,000 after buying an additional 28,231 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at $27,233,000. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 137.1% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,019 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,033,000 after purchasing an additional 2,324 shares during the period. Finally, Quent Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 4,250 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,150,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.