UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Shares Up 0.3%

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) shares rose 0.3% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $526.28 and last traded at $525.28. Approximately 349,100 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 92% from the average daily volume of 4,176,570 shares. The stock had previously closed at $523.55.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNH has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. HSBC upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $460.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $534.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $605.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Truist Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $525.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $570.05.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $479.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.55. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $487.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $510.99.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $99.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $6.26 EPS. The company's revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were given a dividend of $1.88 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $7.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. UnitedHealth Group's payout ratio is 45.97%.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total value of $597,581.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,364 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,527,306.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other UnitedHealth Group news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total value of $597,581.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,364 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,527,306.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total transaction of $451,127.82. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,977,233.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 84,405,255 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $41,755,280,000 after buying an additional 544,740 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,062,928 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $12,893,331,000 after buying an additional 94,641 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 2.1% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,220,234 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $12,715,790,000 after buying an additional 527,526 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 15,122,203 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $7,961,369,000 after purchasing an additional 324,733 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,860,985 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $6,244,158,000 after purchasing an additional 542,424 shares in 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.