UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Shares Down 3.2% After Analyst Downgrade

Key Points

• UnitedHealth Group's shares fell 3.2% after Deutsche Bank downgraded the stock from a buy to a hold rating, with a new price target of $333.00.
• Despite the downgrade, other analysts have set more optimistic targets, with KeyCorp raising its target to $400.00 and Sanford C. Bernstein increasing it to $433.00.
• UnitedHealth reported a quarterly earnings of $2.92 EPS, slightly beating expectations, with a year-over-year revenue increase of 12.2%.

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report)'s stock price fell 3.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded the stock from a buy rating to a hold rating. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft now has a $333.00 price target on the stock. UnitedHealth Group traded as low as $353.88 and last traded at $356.0530. 11,556,009 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 7% from the average session volume of 12,424,092 shares. The stock had previously closed at $367.84.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $379.00 to $433.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $400.00 to $325.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $423.00 to $417.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $406.00 target price for the company. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $395.64.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake 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 increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 2,324 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 1,215 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $635,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. DSG Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. DSG Capital Advisors LLC now owns 50,954 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $26,687,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the period. Finally, Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $169,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 3.2%

The business's 50-day moving average price is $340.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $332.70. The company has a market cap of $322.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $2.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.87 by $0.05. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 5.04% and a return on equity of 23.32%. The company had revenue of $113.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $113.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $7.15 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $2.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. UnitedHealth Group's payout ratio is presently 38.30%.

About UnitedHealth Group

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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