UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (UNH) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $2.21 on June 24th

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, June 5th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of 2.21 per share by the healthcare conglomerate on Tuesday, June 24th. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This is a 5.2% increase from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10.

UnitedHealth Group has a dividend payout ratio of 32.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect UnitedHealth Group to earn $33.22 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $8.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 25.3%.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UNH stock opened at $313.39 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $284.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $386.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $474.19. UnitedHealth Group has a one year low of $248.88 and a one year high of $630.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.29 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. During the same period last year, the business posted $6.91 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,533 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $320.80 per share, for a total transaction of $491,786.40. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,033 shares in the company, valued at $1,935,386.40. This represents a 34.07% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John H. Noseworthy acquired 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $312.16 per share, for a total transaction of $93,648.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 6,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,892,626.08. This trade represents a 5.21% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768 over the last quarter. 0.28% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

An institutional investor recently raised its position in UnitedHealth Group stock. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 137.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,019 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,324 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $2,033,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on UNH. KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $450.00 to $400.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Bank of America lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $560.00 to $350.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $563.00 to $374.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $360.00 target price (down previously from $580.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Erste Group Bank cut UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $426.52.

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.