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

Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) dropped 0.8% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $573.52 and last traded at $574.97. 613,692 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 4,224,132 shares. The stock had previously closed at $579.67.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays upped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $560.00 to $604.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $597.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $566.00 to $571.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $591.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. One 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $614.17.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $526.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $506.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company has a market capitalization of $533.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.38, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.59.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.66 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $98.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $98.73 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.66% and a return on equity of 26.55%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $6.14 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.69 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.34%.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 2,851 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $569.88, for a total transaction of $1,624,727.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,501 shares in the company, valued at $16,812,029.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,500 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 7,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,507,748.55. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 2,851 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,501 shares in the company, valued at $16,812,029.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of UNH. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 84,405,255 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $41,755,280,000 after buying an additional 544,740 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,062,928 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $12,893,331,000 after acquiring an additional 94,641 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 15,122,203 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $7,961,369,000 after acquiring an additional 324,733 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,860,985 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $6,244,158,000 after purchasing an additional 542,424 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,802,231,000. 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.