KeyCorp Begins Coverage on UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH)

KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) in a research report report published on Friday morning, MarketBeat reports. The firm issued an overweight rating and a $675.00 target price on the healthcare conglomerate’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on UNH. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $597.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Truist Financial raised their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an overweight rating and set a $591.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $560.00 to $604.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $617.37.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UNH stock opened at $597.87 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $583.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $530.81. UnitedHealth Group has a 12-month low of $436.38 and a 12-month high of $607.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company has a market cap of $550.27 billion, a PE ratio of 36.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.58.

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

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio 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 transaction of $868,545.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,785 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,507,748.55. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $579.03, for a total transaction of $868,545.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,507,748.55. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 2,851 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $569.88, for a total value of $1,624,727.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,812,029.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of UnitedHealth Group

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Macroview Investment Management LLC lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 671.4% in the 2nd quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 54 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 757.1% during the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 60 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the second quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 152.4% during the third quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 53 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.