Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH)

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders bought 53,421 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 35% compared to the typical volume of 39,524 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. NewSquare Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNH has been the topic of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $640.00 to $510.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. KeyCorp decreased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $650.00 to $575.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Mizuho boosted their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Raymond James reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and set a $540.00 price objective (down from $635.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, HSBC restated a "hold" rating and issued a $490.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $596.86.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 2.6 %

NYSE:UNH traded down $10.77 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $409.23. The stock had a trading volume of 9,889,233 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,512,253. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83. UnitedHealth Group has a one year low of $408.69 and a one year high of $630.73. The business's 50 day moving average is $501.46 and its 200-day moving average is $532.94. The company has a market cap of $372.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.29 by ($0.09). UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The business had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $6.91 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group's payout ratio is 35.18%.

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.

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