UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Trading Up 0.1%

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) was up 0.1% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $495.73 and last traded at $492.91. Approximately 565,580 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 4,066,326 shares. The stock had previously closed at $492.31.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UNH has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $610.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $596.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $610.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Thursday, November 30th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $551.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $579.33.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 0.3 %

The company has a market cap of $456.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $503.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $518.61.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 12th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.98 by $0.18. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.39% and a net margin of 6.02%. The firm had revenue of $94.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $92.13 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.34 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.82 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a $1.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $7.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.52%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is 31.54%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total transaction 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total transaction 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total value of $451,127.82. Following the completion of 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. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of UNH. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.3% during the 4th 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 last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 46,313,751 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $22,260,241,000 after buying an additional 764,872 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,220,234 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $12,715,790,000 after purchasing an additional 527,526 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 15,635,038 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $8,289,386,000 after buying an additional 1,893,192 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 15,122,203 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $7,961,369,000 after purchasing an additional 324,733 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

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.