Piper Sandler Issues Pessimistic Forecast for UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Stock Price

Key Points

• Piper Sandler has reduced its price target for UnitedHealth Group from $353.00 to $317.00, while maintaining an "overweight" rating on the stock, suggesting a potential upside of 21.52%.
• Analysts have mixed opinions on UnitedHealth, with one issuing a sell rating, nine giving a hold rating, and fifteen assigning a buy rating, resulting in a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".
• UnitedHealth Group reported a loss of $1.08 per share compared to analyst expectations, with quarterly revenue showing a year-over-year increase of 12.9%.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) had its price objective dropped by investment analysts at Piper Sandler from $353.00 to $317.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "overweight" rating on the healthcare conglomerate's stock. Piper Sandler's target price indicates a potential upside of 18.98% from the stock's current price.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $515.00 to $350.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Bank of America reduced their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $350.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Truist Financial reduced their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $360.00 to $345.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Wolfe Research reduced their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $501.00 to $390.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $378.95.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 2.1%

Shares of UNH stock traded up $5.36 on Wednesday, reaching $266.43. 22,302,965 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,886,933. UnitedHealth Group has a 12-month low of $248.88 and a 12-month high of $630.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $241.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.45. The business's 50 day moving average price is $298.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $420.36.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $5.16 by ($1.08). The firm had revenue of $111.62 billion for 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%. UnitedHealth Group's revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $6.80 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Patrick Hugh Conway sold 589 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total value of $179,645.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 10,398 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,171,390. The trade was a 5.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kristen Gil bought 3,700 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $271.17 per share, for a total transaction of $1,003,329.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 3,818 shares in the company, valued at $1,035,327.06. This represents a 3,135.59% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders purchased 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768. Insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of UNH. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 176.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 44,249 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $22,384,000 after buying an additional 28,231 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 137.1% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,019 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $2,033,000 after purchasing an additional 2,324 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 263,655 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $133,373,000 after purchasing an additional 9,872 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at $11,141,000. Finally, Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 17,092 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $8,646,000 after purchasing an additional 668 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.