UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Trading 0.1% Higher – What’s Next?

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)’s share price shot up 0.1% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $519.50 and last traded at $514.43. 802,802 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 3,078,777 shares. The stock had previously closed at $513.67.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UNH has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. KeyCorp began coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, October 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $675.00 target price on the stock. HSBC cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Stephens lifted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $591.00 to $644.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $627.58.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 0.0 %

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $558.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $561.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market cap of $472.56 billion, a PE ratio of 33.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.62.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.00 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $100.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.14 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 26.37%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.56 EPS. Analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.64%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.72%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 13.4% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 220,590 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $128,975,000 after acquiring an additional 26,074 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1,275.3% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 44,547 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $26,060,000 after buying an additional 41,308 shares during the period. Parsifal Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter worth about $21,165,000. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $558,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,061,916 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,884,019,000 after purchasing an additional 193,800 shares during the 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.