UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Stock Falls 1.7% - What's Next?

Key Points

• UnitedHealth shares fell 1.7% to about $410.81 in below-average trading volume.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with 20 Buy and eight Hold ratings, a “Moderate Buy” consensus, and an average price target of $463.80.
• The company beat quarterly expectations with $4.69 in EPS and $112.70 billion in revenue, while maintaining FY 2026 guidance of roughly $20.50 EPS; it also pays a $2.32 quarterly dividend, yielding about 2.3%.

Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) fell 1.7% on Monday. The stock traded as low as $408.35 and last traded at $410.8110. Approximately 4,581,055 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 37% from the average session volume of 7,318,698 shares. The stock had previously closed at $418.09.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on UNH shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $401.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. DA Davidson set a $512.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Evercore boosted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $400.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $435.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $463.80.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $368.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.46, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $388.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $390.48.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 13th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $4.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.14 by $0.55. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 17.95% and a net margin of 3.53%. The company had revenue of $112.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.59 EPS. UnitedHealth Group's revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. UnitedHealth Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 20.500- EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 14th were given a dividend of $2.32 per share. This represents a $9.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 14th. UnitedHealth Group's payout ratio is currently 53.00%.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, CEO Patrick Conway sold 1,169 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $390.00, for a total transaction of $455,910.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,328 shares in the company, valued at $5,977,920. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in UNH. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 76,863,061 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $31,946,594,000 after acquiring an additional 3,395,530 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,633,267 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $18,966,555,000 after purchasing an additional 301,081 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 21.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 11,713,684 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $3,169,606,000 after purchasing an additional 2,097,859 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 6.1% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 10,704,994 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $4,449,317,000 after purchasing an additional 616,723 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 5.8% in the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,675,175 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $4,436,923,000 after purchasing an additional 583,536 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company's stock.

About UnitedHealth Group

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated NYSE: UNH is a diversified health care company that provides health insurance coverage, health care services, pharmacy services and health technology. Its businesses serve individuals, employers, government programs, health care providers and other organizations, primarily in the United States.

The company operates through two principal businesses. UnitedHealthcare offers health benefit plans and related services for employers, individuals, families and government-sponsored programs, including Medicare and Medicaid.

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