UnitedHealth Group’s (UNH) “Overweight” Rating Reiterated at KeyCorp

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reissued by equities researchers at KeyCorp in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $650.00 price objective on the healthcare conglomerate’s stock. KeyCorp’s target price points to a potential upside of 25.38% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on UNH. StockNews.com lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $700.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday. Barclays raised their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $603.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. HSBC upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Stephens raised their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $628.42.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNH traded up $7.85 on Friday, hitting $518.44. The company had a trading volume of 2,541,584 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,603,111. The stock has a market cap of $477.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $553.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $562.98. UnitedHealth Group has a 1-year low of $436.38 and a 1-year high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.83 earnings per share. Analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group will post 27.6 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter worth $27,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 152.4% during the 3rd 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. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter worth about $32,000. Quarry LP boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 132.1% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 65 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Hedge funds and other 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.