UnitedHealth Group's (UNH) "Underperform" Rating Reiterated at Robert W. Baird

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "underperform" rating reiterated by Robert W. Baird in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. They presently have a $198.00 price objective on the healthcare conglomerate's stock, down from their prior price objective of $312.00. Robert W. Baird's target price suggests a potential downside of 23.54% from the stock's previous close.

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A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $308.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, HSBC reiterated a "reduce" rating and issued a $270.00 target price (down from $490.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $373.52.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on UnitedHealth Group

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

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NYSE:UNH opened at $258.95 on Thursday. UnitedHealth Group has a 52-week low of $248.88 and a 52-week high of $630.73. The company has a market cap of $234.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.54, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.45. The firm's 50-day moving average is $298.96 and its 200-day moving average is $420.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.45 by ($0.37). The business had revenue of $111.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.75 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 5.04% and a return on equity of 23.32%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $6.80 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

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In related news, CFO John F. Rex acquired 17,175 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were bought at an average price of $291.12 per share, with a total value of $4,999,986.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer owned 203,796 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $59,329,091.52. This represents a 9.20% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley purchased 86,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were bought at an average price of $288.57 per share, for a total transaction of $25,019,019.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 679,493 shares in the company, valued at $196,081,295.01. This trade represents a 14.63% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 56,142.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,295,153 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $4,344,586,000 after purchasing an additional 8,280,404 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $3,846,764,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,729,585 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $47,519,620,000 after purchasing an additional 5,583,343 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 10.6% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,847,940 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $13,537,859,000 after acquiring an additional 2,486,839 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 36.6% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,592,718 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $4,346,712,000 after acquiring an additional 2,301,010 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is 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.

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