UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Trading Up 0.8%

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)’s stock price shot up 0.8% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $490.39 and last traded at $489.70. 565,068 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 4,082,781 shares. The stock had previously closed at $485.88.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $605.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $596.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $591.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $579.33.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 0.2 %

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $503.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $518.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $454.64 billion, a PE ratio of 20.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.54.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 12th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.98 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $94.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $92.13 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.39% and a net margin of 6.02%. The business’s revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.34 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $1.88 per share. This represents a $7.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other UnitedHealth Group news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total transaction of $451,127.82. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,977,233.31. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other UnitedHealth Group news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total transaction of $451,127.82. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,977,233.31. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total transaction of $597,581.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,527,306.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Robbins Farley acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Richelieu Gestion SA bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. CGC Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 1,000.0% in the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 55 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 340.0% in the 3rd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 66 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.