UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Stock Price Up 0.1%

Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) traded up 0.1% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $507.00 and last traded at $501.65. 831,837 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 4,337,228 shares. The stock had previously closed at $500.96.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on UNH. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $525.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $618.00 to $584.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 5th. StockNews.com cut UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $610.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $570.05.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 0.4 %

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $481.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $511.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market cap of $462.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.55.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.63 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $99.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.23 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.50% and a net margin of 4.05%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $6.26 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th were issued a $1.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $7.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.49%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total value of $597,581.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,527,306.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total transaction of $451,127.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,977,233.31. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total value of $597,581.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,527,306.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of UnitedHealth Group

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. Bray Capital Advisors increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.5% in the third quarter. Bray Capital Advisors now owns 9,616 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,848,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 16.4% in the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 16,599 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $8,369,000 after acquiring an additional 2,340 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.9% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 593,345 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $299,159,000 after acquiring an additional 10,780 shares during the period. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter worth approximately $460,000. Finally, Jeppson Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,748 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $881,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

About UnitedHealth Group

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.