UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Trading Down 1.7% – Here’s What Happened

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)’s stock price traded down 1.7% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $490.62 and last traded at $491.30. 1,945,554 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 52% from the average session volume of 4,063,784 shares. The stock had previously closed at $499.72.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on UNH. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $625.00 price target (down from $640.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America dropped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $626.84.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

The stock’s fifty day moving average is $576.42 and its 200-day moving average is $559.93. The stock has a market cap of $453.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.13, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.00 by $0.15. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The company had revenue of $100.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $6.56 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.72%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of UNH. Goldstein Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.9% in the second quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC now owns 1,293 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $658,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. JB Capital LLC grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. JB Capital LLC now owns 6,965 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,548,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 11,831 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,025,000 after purchasing an additional 867 shares during the period. Powers Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the second quarter valued at about $203,000. Finally, Avalon Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $235,000. 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.