UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Trading Up 0.8%

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)’s share price shot up 0.8% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $490.39 and last traded at $489.70. 565,068 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 4,082,781 shares. The stock had previously closed at $485.88.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on UNH shares. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $596.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $610.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Thursday, November 30th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $610.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $579.33.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

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 stock has a market cap of $454.64 billion, a PE ratio of 20.69, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.54. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $503.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $518.79.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 6.02% and a return on equity of 26.39%. The business had revenue of $94.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.13 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.34 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now 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 can be accessed through this link. In other UnitedHealth Group news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,527,306.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed 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 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now 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.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Robbins Farley purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Richelieu Gestion SA purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. CGC Financial Services LLC increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1,000.0% in the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 55 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 340.0% during the 3rd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 66 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. 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.