UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" by the twenty-four brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation and seventeen have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $441.87.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on UNH shares. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $510.00 to $356.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. TD Cowen cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $308.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $677.00 to $351.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a "buy" rating and set a $360.00 price target (down previously from $580.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Monday, May 19th.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock traded up $2.91 on Friday, hitting $301.08. 16,265,624 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,787,922. UnitedHealth Group has a 12-month low of $248.88 and a 12-month high of $630.73. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $430.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $494.23. The company has a market cap of $273.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $7.29 by ($0.09). UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The firm had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $111.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $6.91 EPS. Analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,533 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were bought at an average price of $320.80 per share, for a total transaction of $491,786.40. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 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 can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO John F. Rex bought 17,175 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was purchased at an average cost 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 directly owns 203,796 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $59,329,091.52. The trade was a 9.20% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders acquired 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in UNH. Nova Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 339.1% during the 1st quarter. Nova Wealth Management Inc. now owns 101 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 30.1% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 87,961 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $45,587,000 after acquiring an additional 20,375 shares during the last quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $61,000. Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $250,184,000. Finally, GK Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. GK Wealth Management LLC now owns 506 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $265,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company's stock.

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.