HSBC Reiterates Reduce Rating for UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH)

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "reduce" rating restated by research analysts at HSBC in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $270.00 price target on the healthcare conglomerate's stock, down from their previous price target of $490.00. HSBC's target price would indicate a potential downside of 16.09% from the stock's previous close.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $355.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $513.00 to $362.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. TD Securities reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $308.00 price target (down from $520.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Monday. Hsbc Global Res downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Argus downgraded shares of 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, seven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $441.87.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 1.9%

UNH opened at $321.76 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $464.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $510.17. UnitedHealth Group has a 52 week low of $248.88 and a 52 week high of $630.73. The firm has a market cap of $291.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56. 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 the consensus estimate of $7.29 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $6.91 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other UnitedHealth Group news, CFO John F. Rex purchased 17,175 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were bought at an average price of $291.12 per share, with a total value of $4,999,986.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 203,796 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,329,091.52. This represents a 9.20% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,533 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $320.80 per share, with a total value of $491,786.40. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 6,033 shares in the company, valued at $1,935,386.40. This represents a 34.07% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders purchased 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Acorns Advisers LLC boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 16.9% in the 1st quarter. Acorns Advisers LLC now owns 547 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $286,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 59.1% in the first quarter. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC now owns 619 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $324,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 9,114 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $4,774,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 5.3% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 277,916 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $145,559,000 after purchasing an additional 14,112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Integrity Alliance LLC. lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 376.4% in the 1st quarter. Integrity Alliance LLC. now owns 13,395 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $7,016,000 after acquiring an additional 10,583 shares in the last quarter. 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.

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