Patrick Hugh Conway Sells 500 Shares of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Stock

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) CEO Patrick Hugh Conway sold 500 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.00, for a total value of $205,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 16,497 shares in the company, valued at $6,763,770. This represents a 2.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of UNH stock traded up $2.57 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $406.54. 4,088,611 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,121,771. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $244.37 and a fifty-two week high of $461.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.78. The company has a market capitalization of $369.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.62. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $413.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $350.44.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.94 by $1.44. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.14% and a return on equity of 16.53%. The company had revenue of $112.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $110.81 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.08 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. UnitedHealth Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 19.500-20.000 EPS. Research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 19.69 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a dividend of $2.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $9.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. This is a boost from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.21. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.72%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 91,600,260 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $30,238,162,000 after acquiring an additional 995,210 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 4.6% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 76,863,061 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $31,946,594,000 after purchasing an additional 3,395,530 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,232,170 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $14,931,592,000 after buying an additional 1,119,834 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 22,591,042 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $7,457,723,000 after buying an additional 824,120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 18,829,054 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,215,660,000 after acquiring an additional 680,077 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UNH has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays raised their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $429.00 to $441.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $466.00 to $516.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. HSBC raised their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $300.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $340.00 to $373.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $455.92.

UnitedHealth Group Company Profile

UnitedHealth Group Inc is a diversified health care company headquartered in Minnetonka, Minnesota, that operates two primary business platforms: UnitedHealthcare and Optum. Founded in 1977, the company provides a broad range of health benefits and health care services to individuals, employers, governmental entities and other organizations. Its operations span commercial employer-sponsored plans, individual and Medicare and Medicaid programs, and services for customers and health systems in the United States and selected international markets.

UnitedHealthcare is the company’s benefits business, administering health plans and networks, managing provider relationships, and offering coverage products for employers, individuals, and government-sponsored programs.