UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) rose 0.5% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $506.73 and last traded at $505.86. Approximately 358,531 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 92% from the average daily volume of 4,318,656 shares. The stock had previously closed at $503.21.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on UNH. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $610.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Barclays increased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $534.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $591.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $618.00 to $584.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $570.05.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 0.8 %

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $481.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $511.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $466.53 billion, a PE ratio of 30.99, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.55.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.63 by $0.28. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.50% and a net margin of 4.05%. The company had revenue of $99.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $6.26 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.6 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 11th were issued a dividend of $1.88 per share. This represents a $7.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total value of $451,127.82. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,977,233.31. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 32,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,977,233.31. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,527,306.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bray Capital Advisors raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.5% during the third quarter. Bray Capital Advisors now owns 9,616 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,848,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Middleton & Co. Inc. MA raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1.3% in the third quarter. Middleton & Co. Inc. MA now owns 29,513 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $14,880,000 after buying an additional 378 shares during the period. First Merchants Corp increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. First Merchants Corp now owns 32,325 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $16,298,000 after acquiring an additional 916 shares during the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.2% in the third quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 190,835 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $96,217,000 after purchasing an additional 5,837 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Source Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Source Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,486 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $749,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is 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.