Barclays Boosts UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Price Target to $560.00

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) had its price target hoisted by Barclays from $534.00 to $560.00 in a report published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the healthcare conglomerate’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the company. HSBC upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a reduce rating to a hold rating and set a $460.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an overweight rating and issued a $591.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Oppenheimer restated an outperform rating and issued a $610.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $618.00 to $584.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Bank of America restated a buy rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $570.05.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

NYSE UNH opened at $501.29 on Wednesday. UnitedHealth Group has a twelve month low of $436.38 and a twelve month high of $554.70. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $488.63 and a 200 day moving average of $515.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $462.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.64, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.54.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.63 by $0.28. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.50% and a net margin of 4.05%. The company had revenue of $99.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $6.26 EPS. UnitedHealth Group’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group will post 27.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $1.88 per share. This represents a $7.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other UnitedHealth Group news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total transaction of $597,581.28. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,364 shares in the company, valued at $4,527,306.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total value of $451,127.82. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,289 shares in the company, valued at $16,977,233.31. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total value of $597,581.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,364 shares in the company, valued at $4,527,306.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of UnitedHealth Group

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Robbins Farley purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Richelieu Gestion SA purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. CGC Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1,000.0% during the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 55 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 340.0% during the third quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 66 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.