UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Trading Down 1.8% – Here’s What Happened

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) shares traded down 1.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $321.45 and last traded at $321.68. 7,381,341 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 40% from the average session volume of 12,346,681 shares. The stock had previously closed at $327.74.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $198.00 price target (down from $312.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $333.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings raised UnitedHealth Group from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Bank of America increased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $350.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $267.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $397.12.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $293.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $345.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $323.37.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $2.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.87 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $113.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $113.19 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 4.04% and a return on equity of 19.23%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $7.15 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 8th will be given a dividend of $2.21 per share. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 8th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.14%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,837,207,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the first quarter worth approximately $3,846,764,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 6.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,729,585 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $47,519,620,000 after buying an additional 5,583,343 shares during the last quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the second quarter valued at $1,572,193,000. Finally, Dodge & Cox boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 117.7% during the 2nd quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 8,750,560 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $2,729,912,000 after purchasing an additional 4,730,192 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.