UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Trading Down 0.3% – What’s Next?

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)’s share price was down 0.3% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $500.59 and last traded at $504.60. Approximately 680,809 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 4,102,132 shares. The stock had previously closed at $506.34.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UNH has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. KeyCorp assumed coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $675.00 price objective on the stock. HSBC cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Hsbc Global Res lowered UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Stephens raised their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $626.84.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $570.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $560.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market cap of $465.76 billion, a PE ratio of 32.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.58.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.00 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $100.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.14 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 26.37%. The business’s revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $6.56 earnings per share. Analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.66%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.72%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. M&T Bank Corp grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 13.4% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 220,590 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $128,975,000 after purchasing an additional 26,074 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1,275.3% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 44,547 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $26,060,000 after buying an additional 41,308 shares during the period. Parsifal Capital Management LP bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter worth about $21,165,000. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter valued at $558,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,061,916 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,884,019,000 after purchasing an additional 193,800 shares in the last quarter. 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.