UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $543.42, but opened at $530.35. UnitedHealth Group shares last traded at $529.92, with a volume of 1,290,737 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on UNH. Bank of America reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $591.00 to $644.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $626.79.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $479.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.62. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $554.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $563.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.83 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.6 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.61%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.72%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Client 1ST Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $292,000. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth $978,000. Delta Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Delta Capital Management LLC now owns 7,250 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,667,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. My Legacy Advisors LLC grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. My Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 4,812 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $2,615,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arbor Trust Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Arbor Trust Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,017 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,526,000 after buying an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.