UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Price Target Cut to $555.00 by Analysts at Royal Bank of Canada

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) had its price target reduced by Royal Bank of Canada from $596.00 to $555.00 in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "outperform" rating on the healthcare conglomerate's stock. Royal Bank of Canada's price objective suggests a potential upside of 15.87% from the stock's current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on UNH. Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America restated a "buy" rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $525.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $591.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Erste Group Bank reissued a "hold" rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $571.20.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE UNH traded up $10.10 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $478.99. 8,753,188 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,466,714. The stock has a market capitalization of $441.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.09, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.54. UnitedHealth Group has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $554.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The business has a 50 day moving average of $490.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $515.63.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.63 by $0.28. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.39% and a net margin of 6.02%. The company had revenue of $99.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $6.26 EPS. The business's revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group will post 27.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total transaction of $451,127.82. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,977,233.31. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other UnitedHealth Group news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total value of $451,127.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,289 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,977,233.31. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total transaction of $597,581.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,364 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,527,306.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of UNH. Ascension Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter worth $216,000. Bellecapital International Ltd. increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Bellecapital International Ltd. now owns 13,823 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $7,277,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 34,297 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $17,292,000 after acquiring an additional 1,884 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 326.0% during the 4th quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 213 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $112,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 84,278 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $44,370,000 after acquiring an additional 5,023 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company's stock.

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.