UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Shares Down 4.5% – Here’s Why

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)’s share price was down 4.5% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $552.42 and last traded at $552.73. Approximately 3,771,058 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 2% from the average daily volume of 3,855,669 shares. The stock had previously closed at $578.97.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on UNH shares. Bank of America decreased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Stephens increased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. HSBC lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $603.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, KeyCorp began coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, October 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $675.00 target price for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $626.84.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $587.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $558.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $506.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.58.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.00 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $100.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.14 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The company’s revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $6.56 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.72%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of UNH. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,540,102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $26,626,387,000 after buying an additional 563,554 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,636,704 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $11,440,133,000 after acquiring an additional 318,039 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,061,916 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,884,019,000 after purchasing an additional 193,800 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,039,601 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,094,247,000 after acquiring an additional 35,533 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 78,814.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,296,737 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,096,896,000 after acquiring an additional 5,290,025 shares in 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.