Oppenheimer Issues Pessimistic Forecast for UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Stock Price

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) had its price objective cut by Oppenheimer from $600.00 to $400.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the healthcare conglomerate’s stock.

UNH has been the subject of several other research reports. Barclays dropped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $642.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Mizuho upped their target price 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. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $700.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $652.00 to $525.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, HSBC restated a “hold” rating and set a $490.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $523.52.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 1.0%

UNH opened at $308.35 on Wednesday. UnitedHealth Group has a one year low of $284.25 and a one year high of $630.73. The company has a market cap of $279.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.89, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56. The business’s fifty day moving average is $478.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $517.83. 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 (NYSE:UNH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.29 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $6.91 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.18%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Waycross Partners LLC grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Waycross Partners LLC now owns 27,794 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $14,060,000 after purchasing an additional 658 shares in the last quarter. Full Sail Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Full Sail Capital LLC now owns 1,612 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $815,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 4,022 shares in the last quarter. Seilern Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $153,015,000. Finally, Oregon Pacific Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $424,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

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.