UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Price Target Cut to $325.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Key Points

• Analysts at Morgan Stanley reduced the price target for UnitedHealth Group from $342.00 to $325.00 while maintaining an "overweight" rating, suggesting an 8.85% upside potential.
• Recent earnings revealed a miss on consensus estimates, with UnitedHealth reporting $4.08 EPS, below the expected $4.45, and a revenue of $111.62 billion, slightly short of the $111.75 billion estimate.
• The stock has seen significant downgrades from various analysts, with current ratings showing fifteen "Buy," six "Hold," and three "Sell" ratings, reflecting a shift in market sentiment.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) had its price target cut by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $342.00 to $325.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "overweight" rating on the healthcare conglomerate's stock. Morgan Stanley's target price would indicate a potential upside of 8.85% from the stock's previous close.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $306.00 to $267.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 4th. KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $308.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Finally, TD Securities reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $308.00 target price (down previously from $520.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $365.38.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

NYSE:UNH traded down $5.6520 on Wednesday, reaching $298.5880. The stock had a trading volume of 7,282,663 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,787,148. The company has a market capitalization of $270.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.43. UnitedHealth Group has a 1-year low of $234.60 and a 1-year high of $630.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $289.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $393.55.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.45 by ($0.37). UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 23.32% and a net margin of 5.04%.The company had revenue of $111.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.75 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $6.80 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. UnitedHealth Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 16.000- EPS. Research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other UnitedHealth Group news, CEO Patrick Hugh Conway sold 589 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total value of $179,645.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 10,398 shares in the company, valued at $3,171,390. This trade represents a 5.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of UnitedHealth Group

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Financial Management Professionals Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.8% in the first quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 2,224 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $1,165,000 after buying an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 28.6% in the first quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 90 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,135 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $1,080,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 5.1% in the first quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC now owns 430 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $225,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Net Worth Advisory Group lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% in the first quarter. Net Worth Advisory Group now owns 3,642 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $1,907,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.

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