UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Stock Price Up 0.4% – What’s Next?

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) was up 0.4% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $512.11 and last traded at $507.66. Approximately 724,400 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 4,107,280 shares. The stock had previously closed at $505.86.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on UNH. StockNews.com raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. HSBC cut UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $625.00 target price (down from $640.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $628.37.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 0.0 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $561.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $560.42. The company has a market capitalization of $465.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.58.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%. UnitedHealth Group’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $6.56 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is 54.72%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Founders Financial Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 5.6% in the second quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 7,308 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,722,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares in the last quarter. Archer Investment Corp lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 49.2% during the 2nd quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 2,521 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,284,000 after purchasing an additional 831 shares during the period. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.0% during the second quarter. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,677 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $854,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 17.7% in the second quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 21,721 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $11,062,000 after acquiring an additional 3,265 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 24.6% in the 2nd quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 43,707 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $22,258,000 after purchasing an additional 8,628 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

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.