UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $2.21

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, June 5th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of 2.21 per share by the healthcare conglomerate on Tuesday, June 24th. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This is a 5.2% increase from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10.

UnitedHealth Group has a dividend payout ratio of 32.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect UnitedHealth Group to earn $33.22 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $8.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 25.3%.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of UNH opened at $303.24 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group has a twelve month low of $248.88 and a twelve month high of $630.73. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $409.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $484.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $275.08 billion, a PE ratio of 19.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.29 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $6.91 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UNH has been the topic of a number of research reports. Erste Group Bank cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $563.00 to $374.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Raymond James downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $515.00 to $350.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $428.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Kristen Gil acquired 3,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was bought at an average price of $271.17 per share, with a total value of $1,003,329.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,035,327.06. The trade was a 3,135.59% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,533 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $320.80 per share, with a total value of $491,786.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,935,386.40. This represents a 34.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders purchased 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

An institutional investor recently raised its position in UnitedHealth Group stock. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 137.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,019 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,324 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $2,033,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Hedge funds and other 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.