UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday after Truist Financial raised their price target on the stock from $310.00 to $365.00. The stock had previously closed at $320.25, but opened at $332.50. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the stock. UnitedHealth Group shares last traded at $332.54, with a volume of 8,833,270 shares traded.

UNH has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wall Street Zen cut UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. TD Cowen cut UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $308.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, May 19th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Bank of America upped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $290.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Finally, HSBC reiterated a “reduce” rating and issued a $270.00 price objective (down from $490.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $355.77.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Citizens National Bank Trust Department increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.0% during the first quarter. Citizens National Bank Trust Department now owns 17,886 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $9,368,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.3% during the first quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 530,103 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $277,641,000 after purchasing an additional 1,465 shares in the last quarter. Caitlin John LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 14.8% during the first quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 862 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $451,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth about $515,000. Finally, Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 47.8% during the fourth quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 38,796 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $19,625,000 after buying an additional 12,550 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $289.41 and a 200-day moving average of $371.39. The stock has a market cap of $315.71 billion, a PE ratio of 15.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.45.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.45 by ($0.37). UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 23.32% and a net margin of 5.04%.The company had revenue of $111.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.75 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $6.80 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. UnitedHealth Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 16.000- EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a $2.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.30%.

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.