UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Cut to Hold at TD Cowen

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at TD Cowen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Finviz reports. They presently have a $308.00 price target on the healthcare conglomerate's stock. TD Cowen's price target would suggest a potential upside of 5.75% from the company's previous close.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Erste Group Bank cut UnitedHealth Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. StockNews.com raised UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. KeyCorp reduced their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $575.00 to $450.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $563.00 to $374.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $355.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $471.67.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UNH stock opened at $291.24 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $470.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $513.25. UnitedHealth Group has a 12-month low of $248.88 and a 12-month high of $630.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company has a market cap of $264.20 billion, a PE ratio of 18.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO John F. Rex bought 17,175 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $291.12 per share, for a total transaction of $4,999,986.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 203,796 shares of the company's stock, valued at $59,329,091.52. The trade was a 9.20% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,533 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was bought at an average price of $320.80 per share, for a total transaction of $491,786.40. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 6,033 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,935,386.40. The trade was a 34.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have bought 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of UNH. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth $6,375,744,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 56,142.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,295,153 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $4,344,586,000 after buying an additional 8,280,404 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the first quarter worth $3,846,764,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,729,585 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $47,519,620,000 after buying an additional 5,583,343 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth $1,914,740,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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