UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Stock Price Down 0.8%

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)’s stock price dropped 0.8% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $490.57 and last traded at $491.20. Approximately 422,594 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 91% from the average daily volume of 4,457,367 shares. The stock had previously closed at $495.35.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNH has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $596.00 to $555.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $566.00 to $571.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. HSBC upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $460.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $545.00 to $562.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $570.05.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $450.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.54. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $485.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $514.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $99.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.23 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 4.05% and a return on equity of 26.50%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $6.26 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 11th were given a dividend of $1.88 per share. This represents a $7.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.97%.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 32,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,977,233.31. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of UnitedHealth Group 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total value of $451,127.82. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,289 shares in the company, 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 Investors Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in UNH. Bray Capital Advisors grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bray Capital Advisors now owns 9,616 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,848,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 3,237 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,632,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 6.6% in the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 18,354 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $9,254,000 after purchasing an additional 1,139 shares during the last quarter. KRS Capital Management LLC lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 3.7% in the third quarter. KRS Capital Management LLC now owns 2,557 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,289,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TFG Advisers LLC lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 2.9% in the third quarter. TFG Advisers LLC now owns 8,591 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,331,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by 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.