UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Price Target Cut to $356.00 by Analysts at Robert W. Baird

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) had its price objective decreased by Robert W. Baird from $510.00 to $356.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Robert W. Baird currently has an outperform rating on the healthcare conglomerate’s stock.

UNH has been the topic of several other research reports. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $575.00 to $450.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Argus downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $700.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, April 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $523.52.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $308.35 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $478.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $517.83. UnitedHealth Group has a 12-month low of $284.25 and a 12-month high of $630.73. The firm has a market cap of $279.72 billion, a PE ratio of 19.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.56 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $6.91 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis 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 Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in UNH. Financial Management Professionals Inc. increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.8% in the first quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 2,224 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,165,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 902 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $456,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 2,578 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,304,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC now owns 575 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $291,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Richwood Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Richwood Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,247 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $2,654,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.