Weekly Research Analysts’ Ratings Updates for UnitedHealth Group (UNH)

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) recently received a number of ratings updates from brokerages and research firms:

• 1/23/2025 – UnitedHealth Group was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating.
• 1/17/2025 – UnitedHealth Group had its price target lowered by analysts at Barclays PLC from $655.00 to $642.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• 1/17/2025 – UnitedHealth Group had its “overweight” rating reaffirmed by analysts at KeyCorp. They now have a $650.00 price target on the stock.
• 1/17/2025 – UnitedHealth Group had its “overweight” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald. They now have a $700.00 price target on the stock.
• 1/15/2025 – UnitedHealth Group was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating.
• 1/10/2025 – UnitedHealth Group was upgraded by analysts at Hsbc Global Res from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating.
• 1/10/2025 – UnitedHealth Group was upgraded by analysts at HSBC Holdings plc from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating. They now have a $595.00 price target on the stock.
• 1/6/2025 – UnitedHealth Group had its price target lowered by analysts at Truist Financial Co. from $625.00 to $610.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 1/2/2025 – UnitedHealth Group had its price target lowered by analysts at Piper Sandler from $605.00 to $600.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• 12/9/2024 – UnitedHealth Group was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating.
• 12/6/2024 – UnitedHealth Group had its price target raised by analysts at Oppenheimer Holdings Inc. from $610.00 to $640.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.
• 12/5/2024 – UnitedHealth Group had its price target raised by analysts at Stephens from $605.00 to $675.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• 12/3/2024 – UnitedHealth Group had its price target raised by analysts at Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft from $595.00 to $625.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 11/27/2024 – UnitedHealth Group had its price target raised by analysts at Barclays PLC from $603.00 to $655.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNH traded up $2.49 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $532.26. The stock had a trading volume of 3,670,578 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,935,030. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $436.38 and a 1-year high of $630.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $489.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.34, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.62. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $542.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $563.54. 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 (NYSE:UNH) last released 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. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The firm had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.83 EPS. UnitedHealth Group’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.58%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,302,065. This represents a 28.57 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,540,102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $26,626,387,000 after buying an additional 563,554 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,636,704 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $11,440,133,000 after acquiring an additional 318,039 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,061,916 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,884,019,000 after purchasing an additional 193,800 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 78,814.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,296,737 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,096,896,000 after buying an additional 5,290,025 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,772,487 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,920,039,000 after buying an additional 21,149 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.