UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Trading 0.1% Higher – Time to Buy?

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) shares traded up 0.1% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $511.00 and last traded at $508.23. 637,348 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 4,092,727 shares. The stock had previously closed at $507.80.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on UNH shares. HSBC cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Stephens increased their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $591.00 to $644.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Three investment 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 stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $626.84.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $464.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s 50-day moving average is $565.71 and its 200-day moving average is $560.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.00 by $0.15. The firm 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%. The business’s revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $6.56 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.66%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is 54.72%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SK Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $351,000. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.0% during the third quarter. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,067 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,209,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. IMS Capital Management increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.7% in the third quarter. IMS Capital Management now owns 3,626 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $2,120,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 29.1% in the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 783,143 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $457,888,000 after buying an additional 176,543 shares during the period. Finally, 1ST Source Bank grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. 1ST Source Bank now owns 1,687 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $986,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

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.