UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Trading Up 0.4% – What’s Next?

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) rose 0.4% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $512.11 and last traded at $507.66. Approximately 724,400 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 4,107,280 shares. The stock had previously closed at $505.86.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UNH has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Stephens raised their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $628.37.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 1.7 %

The firm’s 50-day moving average is $559.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $560.20. The stock has a market cap of $472.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.42, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.00 by $0.15. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The firm had revenue of $100.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $6.56 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,749 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $7,461,000 after buying an additional 356 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 36.1% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,376 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $696,000 after acquiring an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. SK Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $351,000. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,067 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,209,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IMS Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.7% in the third quarter. IMS Capital Management now owns 3,626 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,120,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. 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.