UnitedHealth Group's (UNH) Overweight Rating Reiterated at Cantor Fitzgerald

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "overweight" rating reiterated by stock analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $700.00 target price on the healthcare conglomerate's stock. Cantor Fitzgerald's price objective points to a potential upside of 37.25% from the company's previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on UNH. StockNews.com lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday. HSBC upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $595.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stephens raised their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $603.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $627.74.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of UNH stock traded down $0.56 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $510.03. The company had a trading volume of 7,462,712 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,104,531. The stock has a market capitalization of $469.37 billion, a PE ratio of 33.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. UnitedHealth Group has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73. The company's fifty day moving average is $549.37 and its 200 day moving average is $562.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The company's revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.83 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group will post 27.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of UNH. Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc. lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 7.2% in the second quarter. Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc. now owns 184,925 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $94,175,000 after purchasing an additional 12,372 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 337,254 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $171,750,000 after acquiring an additional 3,348 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 47.4% during the second quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 26,302 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $13,394,000 after purchasing an additional 8,458 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 4.6% in the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 62,584 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $31,872,000 after purchasing an additional 2,775 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 39,031 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $19,877,000 after buying an additional 1,770 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.