UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Lowered to “Market Perform” Rating by Raymond James

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) was downgraded by Raymond James from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Erste Group Bank cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. HSBC reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $490.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Argus lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $664.00 to $563.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $508.38.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 11.1%

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $273.96 on Wednesday. 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 52-week low of $248.88 and a 52-week high of $630.73. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $474.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $515.82. The stock has a market cap of $248.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.29 by ($0.09). UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The business had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $6.91 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of UnitedHealth Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of UNH. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 50.3% during the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 1,320 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $668,000 after acquiring an additional 442 shares during the last quarter. Tuttle Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 34.1% in the fourth quarter. Tuttle Capital Management LLC now owns 629 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $318,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Tlwm boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Tlwm now owns 2,708 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,370,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Lpwm LLC raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 80.8% during the 4th quarter. Lpwm LLC now owns 866 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $438,000 after acquiring an additional 387 shares during the period. Finally, SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,223 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,630,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is 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.