UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Trading Up 0.7%

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)’s share price shot up 0.7% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $488.39 and last traded at $487.45. 570,789 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 4,129,853 shares. The stock had previously closed at $484.04.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UNH has been the subject of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $545.00 to $562.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Thursday, March 7th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $607.00 to $546.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Robert W. Baird began coverage on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $597.00 target price for the company. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $579.74.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $498.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $502.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $448.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.73, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.58.

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

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 17th were paid a $2.10 dividend. This is a boost from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.88. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 17th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.73%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 51.34%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of UNH. Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX now owns 1,695 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $855,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Tealwood Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Tealwood Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,988 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,626,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Private Wealth Advisors grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Atlas Private Wealth Advisors now owns 1,752 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $923,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,347 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,235,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baker Avenue Asset Management LP raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 1,219 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $615,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. 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.