UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Shares Down 0.4% – Here’s What Happened

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)’s stock price traded down 0.4% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $503.34 and last traded at $505.86. 4,212,467 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 3% from the average session volume of 4,107,280 shares. The stock had previously closed at $507.80.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on UNH shares. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. KeyCorp initiated coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $675.00 target price for the company. Barclays upped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $603.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Three equities research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $628.37.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 0.3 %

The stock has a market cap of $464.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $561.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $560.42.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.00 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $100.82 billion during 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%. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.56 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 26,074 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1,275.3% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 44,547 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $26,060,000 after acquiring an additional 41,308 shares in the last quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $21,165,000. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $558,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,061,916 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,884,019,000 after purchasing an additional 193,800 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.