UnitedHealth

CFRA, an independent research provider, has provided MT Newswires with the following research alert. Analysts at CFRA have summarized their opinion as follows: Ahead of the Q1 earnings release on April 16, we lower our 12-month target price by $20 to $497, 18x our 2024 EPS estimate (down by $0.18 to $27.62; we cut our 2025 estimate by $0.16 to $31.20), above peer multiples, but below UNH’s three- and five-year averages of 21.7x and 20.2x, respectively. CMS recently finalized its CY 2025 average benchmark rate change for Medicare Advantage at -0.16%, below market expectations for a small increase, in our view, though some improvement from the 1.14% cut in CY 2024. We think the rate change may put further pressure on industry margins, particularly as the industry is battling rising medical loss ratios due to deferred care from the pandemic and higher levels of medical utilization. Following the cyberattack on […]

Morgan Stanley analyst Ricky Goldwasser maintains UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) with a Overweight and lowers the price target from $618 to $584.

Amedisys’ (AMED) acquisition by UnitedHealth Group’s (UNH) Optum unit is expected to be completed despite unconfirmed reports of a possible antitrust investigation by the US Department of Justice, RBC Capital Markets said in a note Monday. The brokerage said it expects the combination of Amedisys and Optum health services to create the largest home health platform in the US with about 10% market share. “We continue to believe that the Optum/AMED deal will close given strong precedent for carriers operating home health assets and the high fragmentation across the home care sector, even pro forma for the combination,” RBC said. RBC raised its price target for Amedisys to $100 from $97, factoring in the upside potential from a deal, and maintained its outperform rating on the stock. However, it also provided a downside valuation of $74 in a potential deal-break scenario, reflecting “a discount to peers and a slight discount

By Tomi Kilgore Justice Department antitrust probe and recent cyberattack were bad news for UnitedHealth – but not as bad as stock’s selloff suggests, analyst says Shares of UnitedHealth Group Inc. rallied Thursday after a ringing endorsement from BofA Securities analyst Kevin Fischbeck, who said investor concerns about an antitrust investigation and a recent cyberattack are way overblown. Fischbeck reiterated his buy rating on the health insurer’s stock (UNH), which he said is now his “top pick.” His $675 price target – which makes Fischbeck the most bullish of the 28 analysts surveyed by FactSet who cover UnitedHealth – implies roughly 41% upside from current levels. The stock rose 0.9% in afternoon trading, after closing Wednesday at its lowest price since July 13, 2023. The bounce comes after UnitedHealth shares tumbled 10.4% amid an eight-session losing streak, which was their longest such streak since an eight-day stretch that ended March

CFRA, an independent research provider, has provided MT Newswires with the following research alert. Analysts at CFRA have summarized their opinion as follows: We lower our 12-month target by $54 to $517, an 18.6x multiple of our 2024 EPS estimate (down by $0.05 to $27.80; we cut our 2025 estimate by $0.13 to $31.36), a premium to managed health care peers but below UNH’s historical average. A significant cyberattack on UNH’s Change Healthcare business (part of Optum) on February 21 continues to disrupt pharmacies, payments, and claims nationwide. Positively, UNH sees 90% of medical claims uninterrupted and expects to reach 95% next week. UNH also views pharmacy claims near normal volume. HHS released guidance from CMS encouraging workarounds such as removing prior authorizations and using alternative electronic data interchanges (EDI). We have seen shares other health care names like HCA Healthcare (HCA 323 ***) and Henry Schein (HSIC 76 ***)

Barclays analyst Andrew Mok initiates coverage on UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) with a Overweight rating and announces Price Target of $551.

RBC Capital analyst Ben Hendrix reiterates UnitedHealth Group with a Outperform and maintains $596 price target.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Stock Analyst Ratings Date Upside/Downside Analyst Firm Price Target Change Rating Change Previous / Current Rating 01/19/2024 15.26% Cantor Fitzgerald → $591 Reiterates Overweight → Overweight 01/17/2024 18.97% Oppenheimer → $610 Reiterates Outperform → Outperform 01/17/2024 13.31% Piper Sandler $584 → $581 Maintains Overweight 01/16/2024 17.99% Stephens & Co. $615 → $605 Maintains Overweight 01/16/2024 16.24% RBC Capital → $596 Reiterates Outperform → Outperform 12/18/2023 -6.38% HSBC $550 → $480 Downgrades Hold → Reduce 12/13/2023 14.09% Stephens & Co. → $585 Reiterates Overweight → Overweight 11/30/2023 18.97% Truist Securities → $610 Reiterates Buy → Buy 11/30/2023 16.24% RBC Capital → $596 Reiterates Outperform → Outperform 11/30/2023 14.09% Stephens & Co. → $585 Reiterates Overweight → Overweight 11/21/2023 15.26% Cantor Fitzgerald → $591 Reiterates Overweight → Overweight 11/20/2023 -1.9% Jefferies $565 → $503 Maintains Hold 10/23/2023 12.92% Morgan Stanley $587 → $579 Maintains Overweight 10/16/2023 16.24% RBC Capital

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Stock Analyst Ratings Date Upside/Downside Analyst Firm Price Target Change Rating Change Previous / Current Rating 01/17/2024 10.5% Piper Sandler $584 → $581 Maintains Overweight 01/16/2024 15.06% Stephens & Co. $615 → $605 Maintains Overweight 01/16/2024 13.35% RBC Capital → $596 Reiterates Outperform → Outperform 12/18/2023 -8.71% HSBC $550 → $480 Downgrades Hold → Reduce 12/13/2023 11.26% Stephens & Co. → $585 Reiterates Overweight → Overweight 11/30/2023 16.01% Truist Securities → $610 Reiterates Buy → Buy 11/30/2023 13.35% RBC Capital → $596 Reiterates Outperform → Outperform 11/30/2023 11.26% Stephens & Co. → $585 Reiterates Overweight → Overweight 11/21/2023 12.4% Cantor Fitzgerald → $591 Reiterates Overweight → Overweight 11/20/2023 -4.34% Jefferies $565 → $503 Maintains Hold 10/23/2023 10.12% Morgan Stanley $587 → $579 Maintains Overweight 10/16/2023 13.35% RBC Capital $572 → $596 Maintains Outperform 10/16/2023 11.07% Piper Sandler $580 → $584 Maintains Overweight 10/16/2023 21.72% UBS → $640

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Stock Analyst Ratings Date Upside/Downside Analyst Firm Price Target Change Rating Change Previous / Current Rating 01/16/2024 14.59% RBC Capital → $596 Reiterates Outperform → Outperform 12/18/2023 -7.71% HSBC $550 → $480 Downgrades Hold → Reduce 12/13/2023 12.48% Stephens & Co. → $585 Reiterates Overweight → Overweight 11/30/2023 17.29% Truist Securities → $610 Reiterates Buy → Buy 11/30/2023 14.59% RBC Capital → $596 Reiterates Outperform → Outperform 11/30/2023 12.48% Stephens & Co. → $585 Reiterates Overweight → Overweight 11/21/2023 13.63% Cantor Fitzgerald → $591 Reiterates Overweight → Overweight 11/20/2023 -3.29% Jefferies $565 → $503 Maintains Hold 10/23/2023 11.32% Morgan Stanley $587 → $579 Maintains Overweight 10/16/2023 14.59% RBC Capital $572 → $596 Maintains Outperform 10/16/2023 12.29% Piper Sandler $580 → $584 Maintains Overweight 10/16/2023 23.05% UBS → $640 Upgrades Neutral → Buy 10/09/2023 2.1% Jefferies $529 → $531 Maintains Hold 09/14/2023 13.63% Cantor Fitzgerald → $591 Reiterates

CFRA, an independent research provider, has provided MT Newswires with the following research alert. Analysts at CFRA have summarized their opinion as follows: We lower our 12-month target $24 to $571, reflecting a 20.5x multiple of our 2024 EPS estimate (down $0.10 to $27.85), above UNH’s five- and 10-year averages of 19.6x and 18.4x, respectively, and a premium to managed health care peers. We start our 2025 estimate at $31.49. UNH reported Q4 adjusted EPS of $6.16 vs. $5.34, topping consensus by $0.17. Revenue of $94.4B (+14% Y/Y) beat consensus by roughly $2.2B, supported by growth in commercial and Medicare customers, offset some by fewer Medicaid customers given losses from the nationwide redetermination process. Patient growth and higher Rx volumes at Optum, as well as additions from the recently acquired Change Healthcare, also supported the quarterly beat. Margins declined as the Q4 medical cost ratio (MCR) was 85%, up from