UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Downgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Monday morning.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on UNH. Baird R W upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. HSBC raised their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $580.00 to $610.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Argus upped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $614.17.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

UNH opened at $566.24 on Monday. UnitedHealth Group has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $591.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $520.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $504.70. The stock has a market cap of $521.16 billion, a PE ratio of 34.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.59.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.66 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $98.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $98.73 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.66% and a return on equity of 26.55%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $6.14 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group will post 27.69 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 2,851 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $569.88, for a total transaction of $1,624,727.88. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,501 shares in the company, valued at $16,812,029.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 2,851 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $569.88, for a total value of $1,624,727.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,812,029.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $579.03, for a total transaction of $868,545.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 7,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,507,748.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of UnitedHealth Group

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 40.0% in the 2nd quarter. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC now owns 63 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Saxony Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 3.5% during the second quarter. Saxony Capital Management LLC now owns 530 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $270,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 3,124 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,591,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC now owns 3,695 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,882,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% during the second quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 3,410 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,737,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.