UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Shares Up 0.9% – Here’s Why

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) rose 0.9% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $510.99 and last traded at $510.83. Approximately 622,241 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 4,092,713 shares. The stock had previously closed at $506.10.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays increased their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $603.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. StockNews.com raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, KeyCorp initiated coverage on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, October 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $675.00 target price on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $626.84.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 0.6 %

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $568.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $559.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company has a market cap of $468.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.18, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.58.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.00 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $100.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.14 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $6.56 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 54.72%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 220,590 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $128,975,000 after buying an additional 26,074 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1,275.3% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 44,547 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $26,060,000 after purchasing an additional 41,308 shares during the period. Parsifal Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter worth $21,165,000. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter valued at about $558,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,061,916 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,884,019,000 after acquiring an additional 193,800 shares during 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.