JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Pessimistic Forecast for UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Stock Price

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) had its price objective trimmed by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $652.00 to $525.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the healthcare conglomerate's stock.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $525.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $650.00 to $575.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $642.00 to $560.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $603.05.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock traded down $6.05 on Thursday, reaching $418.20. 9,255,934 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,482,211. The firm has a market cap of $380.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. The company's 50-day moving average is $503.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $534.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83. UnitedHealth Group has a 1-year low of $412.02 and a 1-year high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.56 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $6.91 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group's payout ratio is 35.18%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in UNH. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,957 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $4,025,000 after purchasing an additional 1,193 shares during the last quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 9,115 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $4,611,000 after purchasing an additional 1,051 shares during the period. Waycross Partners LLC raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Waycross Partners LLC now owns 27,794 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $14,060,000 after acquiring an additional 658 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 199,536 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $100,937,000 after purchasing an additional 11,426 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lmcg Investments LLC lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC now owns 37,974 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $19,210,000 after purchasing an additional 4,022 shares during the period. 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.