UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Monday morning.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on UNH. Jefferies Financial Group raised UnitedHealth Group from a hold rating to a buy rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $481.00 to $647.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $545.00 to $562.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Baird R W upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an overweight rating and issued a $591.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $614.17.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

NYSE:UNH opened at $566.24 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $521.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.88. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $520.58 and a 200 day moving average of $504.70. UnitedHealth Group has a 52-week low of $436.38 and a 52-week high of $591.54.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.66 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $98.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $98.73 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.66% and a return on equity of 26.55%. UnitedHealth Group’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.14 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group will post 27.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.34%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $579.03, for a total value of $868,545.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 7,785 shares in the company, valued at $4,507,748.55. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other UnitedHealth Group news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $579.03, for a total value of $868,545.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,507,748.55. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 2,851 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $569.88, for a total transaction of $1,624,727.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,501 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,812,029.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bell Investment Advisors Inc raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 525 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $276,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 35,946 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $17,783,000 after purchasing an additional 1,129 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 16,941 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $8,919,000 after buying an additional 342 shares during the period. Austin Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 9.8% during the first quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,246 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $573,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 75,602 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $39,802,000 after acquiring an additional 5,537 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.