UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Increases Dividend to $2.21 Per Share

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, June 5th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of 2.21 per share by the healthcare conglomerate on Tuesday, June 24th. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This is a 5.2% increase from UnitedHealth Group's previous quarterly dividend of $2.10.

UnitedHealth Group has raised its dividend by an average of 13.5% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 15 years. UnitedHealth Group has a dividend payout ratio of 32.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect UnitedHealth Group to earn $33.22 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $8.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 25.3%.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UNH traded up $5.02 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $300.86. 6,690,477 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,955,552. The business's 50-day moving average price is $413.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $486.09. The company has a market capitalization of $272.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.40, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. UnitedHealth Group has a twelve month low of $248.88 and a twelve month high of $630.73.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other UnitedHealth Group news, CFO John F. Rex bought 17,175 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $291.12 per share, for a total transaction of $4,999,986.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 203,796 shares in the company, valued at $59,329,091.52. This represents a 9.20% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley acquired 86,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $288.57 per share, for a total transaction of $25,019,019.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 679,493 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,081,295.01. The trade was a 14.63% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders purchased 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

An institutional investor recently raised its position in UnitedHealth Group stock. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 137.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,019 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after buying an additional 2,324 shares during the quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC's holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $2,033,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on UNH. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $521.00 to $362.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wolfe Research cut their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $501.00 to $390.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $563.00 to $374.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $552.00 to $353.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $428.43.

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.