UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Price Target Cut to $350.00 by Analysts at Barclays

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) had its price target cut by Barclays to $350.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the healthcare conglomerate's stock.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on UNH. Wolfe Research reduced their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $501.00 to $390.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. HSBC reiterated a "reduce" rating and set a $270.00 price objective (down from $490.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. TD Cowen lowered UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $308.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, May 19th. Bank of America lowered UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $560.00 to $350.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $515.00 to $350.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $428.43.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNH traded down $3.29 during trading on Monday, hitting $301.43. 12,750,928 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,877,533. UnitedHealth Group has a one year low of $248.88 and a one year high of $630.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $273.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.45, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56. The business's fifty day moving average is $426.60 and its 200-day moving average is $490.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $7.29 by ($0.09). The firm 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 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $6.91 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley purchased 86,700 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $288.57 per share, for a total transaction of $25,019,019.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John H. Noseworthy purchased 300 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was bought at an average price of $312.16 per share, with a total value of $93,648.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 6,063 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,892,626.08. This trade represents a 5.21% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768 over the last three months. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. NewSquare Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 685.7% during the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 55 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

UnitedHealth Group Company Profile

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.