UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Given New $325.00 Price Target at Oppenheimer

Key Points

• Oppenheimer has reduced the target price for UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) from $400 to $325, suggesting a potential upside of 24.59% from its current price despite maintaining an "outperform" rating.
• UnitedHealth Group's shares are currently trading at around $260.85, down 7.5%, with a 12-month low of $248.88 and a high of $630.73, reflecting significant market volatility.
• The company reported earnings of $4.08 EPS for the last quarter, missing analysts' expectations, while also achieving a revenue increase of 12.9% year-over-year.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) had its price objective reduced by equities research analysts at Oppenheimer from $400.00 to $325.00 in a report released on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has an "outperform" rating on the healthcare conglomerate's stock. Oppenheimer's price target suggests a potential upside of 21.98% from the stock's previous close.

UNH has been the topic of several other reports. HSBC reaffirmed 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. Hsbc Global Res downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $351.00 to $306.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $563.00 to $374.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $378.95.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 2.1%

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock traded up $5.36 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $266.43. The company's stock had a trading volume of 22,302,965 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,886,933. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $298.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $420.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. UnitedHealth Group has a 1-year low of $248.88 and a 1-year high of $630.73. The company has a market cap of $241.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.45.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $5.16 by ($1.08). The firm had revenue of $111.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.75 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 5.04% and a return on equity of 23.32%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $6.80 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,533 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $320.80 per share, for a total transaction of $491,786.40. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,033 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,935,386.40. This trade represents a 34.07% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO John F. Rex bought 17,175 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 203,796 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,329,091.52. This trade represents a 9.20% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 176.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 44,249 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $22,384,000 after purchasing an additional 28,231 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 137.1% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,019 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $2,033,000 after acquiring an additional 2,324 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 263,655 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $133,373,000 after acquiring an additional 9,872 shares in the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth $11,141,000. Finally, Meeder Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 17,092 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $8,646,000 after purchasing an additional 668 shares during 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.