UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) traded up 0.8% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $488.86 and last traded at $486.35. 772,129 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 4,138,923 shares. The stock had previously closed at $482.59.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UNH has been the subject of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $545.00 to $562.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $566.00 to $571.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $546.00 to $559.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, StockNews.com cut UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $579.74.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 0.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $445.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $498.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $502.75.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.63 by $0.28. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.50% and a net margin of 4.05%. The company had revenue of $99.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $6.26 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 17th were issued a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.74%. This is an increase from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.88. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 17th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 51.34%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth $5,802,231,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 53,573.1% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,352,490 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,238,515,000 after purchasing an additional 2,348,107 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the first quarter worth $1,117,462,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 107.8% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,306,729 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,141,113,000 after purchasing an additional 1,196,758 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 49.3% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,617,813 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,904,670,000 after acquiring an additional 1,195,352 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.