UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Shares Up 0.8% – Here’s What Happened

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)’s stock price shot up 0.8% on Friday . The company traded as high as $520.98 and last traded at $519.65. 484,690 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 4,073,608 shares. The stock had previously closed at $515.72.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UNH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. HSBC raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $473.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $508.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $545.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The company had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.83 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.62%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,302,065. This represents a 28.57 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,375,744,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth $1,914,740,000. Amundi boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 97.2% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 6,069,100 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,183,132,000 after buying an additional 2,991,470 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 36.6% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,592,718 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,346,712,000 after purchasing an additional 2,301,010 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 76,830.4% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,888,641 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $955,388,000 after buying an additional 1,886,186 shares in the last quarter. 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.