UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Trading Down 0.4%

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)’s stock price dropped 0.4% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $586.73 and last traded at $589.15. Approximately 459,130 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 4,086,190 shares. The stock had previously closed at $591.57.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on UNH. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $591.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Monday, August 19th. StockNews.com upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. UBS Group increased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded UnitedHealth Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $614.17.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $545.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.59. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $548.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $512.45.

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

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 51.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other UnitedHealth Group news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $4,507,748.55. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other UnitedHealth Group news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $4,507,748.55. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 2,851 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,812,029.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Macroview Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 671.4% during the second quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 54 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 757.1% in the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 60 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Signature Resources Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 40.0% in the second quarter. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC now owns 63 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.