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

Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Buy" from the twenty-two analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $629.32.

UNH has been the topic of several recent research reports. HSBC raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $595.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,302,065. The trade was a 28.57 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. NewSquare Capital LLC purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

NYSE UNH traded down $33.73 on Thursday, hitting $468.69. The stock had a trading volume of 14,372,151 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,636,174. UnitedHealth Group has a 52-week low of $436.38 and a 52-week high of $630.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83. The company has a market capitalization of $431.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.61. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $520.37 and a 200-day moving average of $561.26.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.83 EPS. Equities analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

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.