UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Shares Up 1.8% – What’s Next?

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)’s stock price rose 1.8% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $630.73 and last traded at $626.98. Approximately 759,432 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 3,891,217 shares. The stock had previously closed at $615.81.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on UNH. KeyCorp started coverage on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $675.00 target price for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $591.00 to $644.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $481.00 to $647.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Argus lifted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $615.53.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market cap of $557.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.60, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $582.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $547.62.

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

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.72%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Macroview Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 671.4% in the second quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 54 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 757.1% in the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 60 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the second quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 152.4% during the third quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 53 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About UnitedHealth Group

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.