UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Stock Price Down 5.1% After Analyst Downgrade

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) shares traded down 5.1% during trading on Monday after Truist Financial lowered their price target on the stock from $660.00 to $580.00. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the stock. UnitedHealth Group traded as low as $431.98 and last traded at $431.11. 3,667,024 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 32% from the average session volume of 5,425,924 shares. The stock had previously closed at $454.11.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on UNH. Hsbc Global Res raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $642.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $700.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $640.00 to $600.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $615.24.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of UNH. Howard Capital Management Group LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $341,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 11.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,778,636 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,039,933,000 after buying an additional 180,479 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 8.2% during the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 635 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $371,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 1,275 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $746,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tudor Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $900,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 6.3 %

The company has a market cap of $389.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $510.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $538.77. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.29 by ($0.09). UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The business had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.56 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $6.91 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.97%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.18%.

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.