UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Receives $366.52 Average PT from Brokerages

Key Points

• UnitedHealth Group has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from 24 analysts, with 15 buy, 6 hold, and 3 sell recommendations.
• The company's stock opened at $271.92 with a market capitalization of $246.27 billion, and it reported a 12.9% year-over-year revenue increase in its last earnings report.
• UnitedHealth Group declared a quarterly dividend of $2.21, which represents an annualized dividend yield of 3.3%.

Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-four ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation and fifteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $366.5238.

UNH has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wolfe Research decreased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $501.00 to $390.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $418.00 to $310.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $515.00 to $350.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird restated an "underperform" rating and issued a $198.00 price target (down previously from $312.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Thursday, July 31st.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 12.0%

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock traded up $32.53 during trading on Thursday, hitting $304.02. The stock had a trading volume of 67,919,029 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,591,144. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $288.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $399.47. The stock has a market cap of $275.34 billion, a PE ratio of 13.17, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. UnitedHealth Group has a 12 month low of $234.60 and a 12 month high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.45 by ($0.37). UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 5.04% and a return on equity of 23.32%. The company had revenue of $111.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.75 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $6.80 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $2.21 dividend. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio is 38.30%.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, CEO Patrick Hugh Conway sold 589 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total value of $179,645.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 10,398 shares in the company, valued at $3,171,390. The trade was a 5.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 6.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,729,585 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $47,519,620,000 after acquiring an additional 5,583,343 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 10.6% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,847,940 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $13,537,859,000 after buying an additional 2,486,839 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,312,182 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $6,624,411,000 after buying an additional 675,075 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,616,007 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $7,899,905,000 after acquiring an additional 906,365 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the second quarter worth approximately $3,837,207,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.