UnitedHealth Group's (UNH) Strong-Buy Rating Reaffirmed at Raymond James

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "strong-buy" rating reiterated by stock analysts at Raymond James in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $540.00 price target on the healthcare conglomerate's stock, down from their previous price target of $635.00. Raymond James' price target points to a potential upside of 29.21% from the stock's current price.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on UNH. HSBC upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $595.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $700.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays dropped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Oppenheimer cut their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $640.00 to $600.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised UnitedHealth Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $603.05.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNH traded down $6.34 during trading on Monday, hitting $417.91. The stock had a trading volume of 6,670,446 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,689,983. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $504.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $536.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $382.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. UnitedHealth Group has a 12-month low of $412.02 and a 12-month high of $630.73. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data 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). UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The company had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $111.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $6.91 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Red Door Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 8.3% during the first quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,468 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $10,196,000 after purchasing an additional 1,496 shares in the last quarter. Spinnaker Trust lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.9% during the first quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 14,303 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $7,491,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 6.8% in the first quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,427 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $1,795,000 after buying an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Insight Inv LLC lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6,601.0% in the 1st quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 20,304 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $10,634,000 after acquiring an additional 20,001 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.9% in the first quarter. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc now owns 2,760 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $1,446,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is 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.