UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Shares Up 0.6% – Still a Buy?

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)’s share price was up 0.6% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $517.62 and last traded at $515.84. Approximately 1,167,571 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 58% from the average daily volume of 2,766,578 shares. The stock had previously closed at $513.00.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on UNH shares. HSBC downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Three investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $627.58.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 0.3 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $470.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.33, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $559.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $561.31.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.00 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $100.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.14 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 26.37%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $6.56 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.72%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 152.4% during the 3rd quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 53 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Quarry LP lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 132.1% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 65 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, VitalStone Financial LLC lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 600.0% during the 2nd quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 70 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.