UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Downgraded to "Hold" Rating by Wall Street Zen

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $400.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $308.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Wolfe Research cut their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $501.00 to $390.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $441.87.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UNH stock traded down $1.30 during trading on Friday, hitting $295.37. The company had a trading volume of 16,808,920 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,585,056. The company has a market cap of $267.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $452.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $505.07. UnitedHealth Group has a fifty-two week low of $248.88 and a fifty-two week 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.

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

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,533 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was bought at an average price of $320.80 per share, with a total value of $491,786.40. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 6,033 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,935,386.40. This represents a 34.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John H. Noseworthy purchased 300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $312.16 per share, for a total transaction of $93,648.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 6,063 shares in the company, valued at $1,892,626.08. The trade was a 5.21% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. NewSquare Capital LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 685.7% during the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 55 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.