UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Trading 0.1% Higher

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) was up 0.1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $494.31 and last traded at $491.94. Approximately 899,094 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 4,506,675 shares. The stock had previously closed at $491.23.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on UNH shares. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $610.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $618.00 to $584.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 5th. StockNews.com lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $596.00 to $555.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $607.00 to $546.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $570.05.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $448.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $486.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $514.57.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.63 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $99.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.23 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 4.05% and a return on equity of 26.50%. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $6.26 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 11th were given 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 1.54%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is 45.97%.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 9,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,527,306.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total transaction of $597,581.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,527,306.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total transaction of $451,127.82. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,977,233.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of UnitedHealth Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 83,860,515 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $44,150,045,000 after acquiring an additional 250,291 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.1% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,220,234 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $12,715,790,000 after acquiring an additional 527,526 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 15,122,203 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $7,961,369,000 after acquiring an additional 324,733 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,860,985 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,244,158,000 after buying an additional 542,424 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,802,231,000. 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.