UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) traded down 1.5% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $593.50 and last traded at $595.28. 551,475 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 4,067,675 shares. The stock had previously closed at $604.18.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on UNH. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $546.00 to $601.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $597.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $614.17.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $555.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $514.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market cap of $549.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.58.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.66 by $0.14. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.66% and a return on equity of 26.55%. The firm had revenue of $98.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $98.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $6.14 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.67 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. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.34%.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the second quarter valued at $61,519,000. Brown Financial Advisors bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the second quarter valued at about $2,898,000. Farmers National Bank grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 15.5% during the second quarter. Farmers National Bank now owns 6,351 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,234,000 after acquiring an additional 851 shares in the last quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 9.9% in the 2nd quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC now owns 25,048 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $12,756,000 after purchasing an additional 2,254 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Heritage Oak Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the second quarter valued at $763,000. Hedge funds and other 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.