UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Trading 1.3% Higher

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) traded up 1.3% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $491.36 and last traded at $490.54. 666,837 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 4,398,384 shares. The stock had previously closed at $484.11.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $605.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. HSBC upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $460.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $591.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $566.00 to $571.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $525.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $570.05.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $483.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $513.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $453.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.55.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.63 by $0.28. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.50% and a net margin of 4.05%. The business 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 firm earned $6.26 earnings per share. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $1.88 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $7.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is presently 45.97%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 32,289 shares in the company, valued at $16,977,233.31. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 9,364 shares in the company, valued at $4,527,306.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 owns 32,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,977,233.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of UnitedHealth Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 16,941 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $8,919,000 after acquiring an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. Ascension Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter valued at $216,000. Bellecapital International Ltd. boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Bellecapital International Ltd. now owns 13,823 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $7,277,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 5.8% during the third quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 34,297 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $17,292,000 after acquiring an additional 1,884 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 326.0% during the fourth quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 213 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $112,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently 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.