Barclays Cuts UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Price Target to $337.00

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) had its price objective lowered by Barclays from $350.00 to $337.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the healthcare conglomerate's stock.

UNH has been the subject of several other research reports. Wolfe Research decreased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $501.00 to $390.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Bank of America lowered UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $560.00 to $350.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. HSBC restated a "reduce" rating and issued a $270.00 target price (down previously from $490.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Robert W. Baird lowered UnitedHealth Group from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $312.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, Argus lowered UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $415.00.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 0.7%

NYSE UNH traded down $2.16 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $300.75. 2,726,055 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,612,085. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a market cap of $272.82 billion, a PE ratio of 12.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.45. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $318.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $443.71. UnitedHealth Group has a 52 week low of $248.88 and a 52 week high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 5.39% and a return on equity of 26.29%. During the same period last year, the business posted $6.91 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $2.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This is a boost from UnitedHealth Group's previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.94%. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley acquired 86,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $288.57 per share, for a total transaction of $25,019,019.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 679,493 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,081,295.01. This represents a 14.63% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Patrick Hugh Conway sold 589 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total value of $179,645.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 10,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,171,390. The trade was a 5.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768 in the last quarter. 0.28% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 685.7% in the first quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 55 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 416.7% in the first quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 62 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is currently 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.