UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Trading Down 0.7%

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) traded down 0.7% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $580.73 and last traded at $584.75. 557,673 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 4,015,560 shares. The stock had previously closed at $589.14.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNH has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $546.00 to $601.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. StockNews.com raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $591.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $546.00 to $559.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $614.17.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $571.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $518.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $531.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.58.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.66 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $98.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $98.73 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.66% and a return on equity of 26.55%. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $6.14 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $579.03, for a total transaction of $868,545.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 7,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,507,748.55. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other UnitedHealth Group news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 2,851 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $569.88, for a total value of $1,624,727.88. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,812,029.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,500 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $579.03, for a total value of $868,545.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 7,785 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,507,748.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of UnitedHealth Group

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of UNH. Swedbank AB bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,117,462,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 107.8% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,306,729 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,141,113,000 after buying an additional 1,196,758 shares during the period. Lone Pine Capital LLC bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the second quarter worth approximately $480,903,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 30.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,816,254 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,942,956,000 after purchasing an additional 880,183 shares during the period. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 1,125.4% during the second quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 894,006 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $455,281,000 after buying an additional 821,050 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.