UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Trading Up 1.3% – Here’s Why

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)’s stock price traded up 1.3% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $565.47 and last traded at $565.23. 447,800 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 3,877,344 shares. The stock had previously closed at $557.77.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on UNH. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays cut their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $604.00 to $603.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $591.00 to $644.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Stephens cut their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $632.00 to $605.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $615.53.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 1.5 %

The company’s 50-day moving average is $581.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $543.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company has a market cap of $559.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.58.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.00 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $100.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.14 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.56 earnings per share. 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 company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 54.72%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital City Trust Co. FL raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 7.4% in the third quarter. Capital City Trust Co. FL now owns 7,712 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,509,000 after acquiring an additional 534 shares during the period. Mendel Capital Management LLC lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 3.0% during the third quarter. Mendel Capital Management LLC now owns 1,149 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $672,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Aviso Wealth Management increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 6.5% in the third quarter. Aviso Wealth Management now owns 834 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $488,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. now owns 45,941 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $26,861,000 after acquiring an additional 2,599 shares during the period. Finally, GLOBALT Investments LLC GA raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 112.1% during the 3rd quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA now owns 12,903 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $7,544,000 after acquiring an additional 6,819 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.