UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Trading Down 1%

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)’s share price was down 1% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $485.78 and last traded at $487.94. Approximately 773,813 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 4,390,916 shares. The stock had previously closed at $492.97.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $610.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $618.00 to $584.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 5th. HSBC raised UnitedHealth Group from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $460.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $591.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $570.05.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $453.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.10, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.55. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $482.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $512.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.85.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $99.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.26 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.6 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a $1.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $7.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,977,233.31. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other UnitedHealth Group news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $16,977,233.31. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were 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. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of UNH. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 16,941 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $8,919,000 after buying an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. Ascension Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter worth approximately $216,000. Bellecapital International Ltd. raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Bellecapital International Ltd. now owns 13,823 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $7,277,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 worth $17,292,000 after purchasing an additional 1,884 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC increased 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 worth $112,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.