Investors Buy Large Volume of UnitedHealth Group Put Options (NYSE:UNH)

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) was the target of some unusual options trading on Monday. Traders bought 290,953 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 102% compared to the average volume of 143,946 put options.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley purchased 86,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $288.57 per share, with a total value of $25,019,019.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 679,493 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,081,295.01. This trade represents a 14.63% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kristen Gil purchased 3,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $271.17 per share, for a total transaction of $1,003,329.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,035,327.06. This represents a 3,135.59% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have bought 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Financial Management Professionals Inc. raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 2,224 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,165,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the period. Richwood Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Richwood Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,247 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $2,654,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 28.6% in the first quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 90 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,309 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $662,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prentice Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,527 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,278,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $307.84 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $279.25 billion, a PE ratio of 19.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a 50-day moving average of $381.74 and a 200 day moving average of $470.20. UnitedHealth Group has a 12-month low of $248.88 and a 12-month high of $630.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

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

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $2.21 per share. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This is a positive change from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.02%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on UNH shares. TD Securities reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $308.00 price objective (down from $520.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Monday, May 19th. TD Cowen lowered UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $308.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $515.00 to $350.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Raymond James lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.