UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Trading Down 0.9%

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) fell 0.9% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $483.38 and last traded at $484.78. 609,725 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 4,432,396 shares. The stock had previously closed at $489.03.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on UNH. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $566.00 to $571.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $545.00 to $562.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $675.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $607.00 to $546.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $570.05.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company’s fifty day moving average is $485.19 and its 200 day moving average is $513.81. The company has a market cap of $444.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.54.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.63 by $0.28. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.50% and a net margin of 4.05%. The firm had revenue of $99.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $6.26 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th were given a dividend of $1.88 per share. This represents a $7.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 45.97%.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Trading of UnitedHealth Group

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $5,802,231,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 53,573.1% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,352,490 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,238,515,000 after acquiring an additional 2,348,107 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 49.3% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,617,813 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,904,670,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195,352 shares in the last quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 75.0% in the third quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 2,011,150 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,014,002,000 after purchasing an additional 862,024 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 35.9% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 3,090,986 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,627,311,000 after buying an additional 815,822 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.