UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Shares Up 1.6% – What’s Next?

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)’s share price shot up 1.6% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $521.74 and last traded at $521.57. 600,659 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 4,072,709 shares. The stock had previously closed at $513.43.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNH has been the topic of a number of research reports. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 0.7 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $472.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.33, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $509.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $545.56.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. UnitedHealth Group’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.83 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 54.19%.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,302,065. The trade was a 28.57 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of UnitedHealth Group

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. NewSquare Capital LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.