Cantor Fitzgerald Raises UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Price Target to $644.00

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) had its price objective increased by Cantor Fitzgerald from $591.00 to $644.00 in a research report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the healthcare conglomerate’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $546.00 to $601.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. StockNews.com lowered UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, HSBC upped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $580.00 to $610.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $615.16.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 2.7 %

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $571.30 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $527.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.58. UnitedHealth Group has a 52-week low of $436.38 and a 52-week high of $608.63. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $584.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $532.84.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.00 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $100.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.14 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.55% and a net margin of 3.66%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.56 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group will post 27.68 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.70%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in UNH. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Macroview Investment Management LLC grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 671.4% in the second quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 54 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 757.1% in the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 60 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the second quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 152.4% in the third quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 53 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

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.