UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Announces Dividend Increase - $2.21 Per Share

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, June 5th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This is a 5.2% increase from UnitedHealth Group's previous quarterly dividend of $2.10.

UnitedHealth Group has a dividend payout ratio of 32.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research 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 Trading Up 2.5%

Shares of NYSE UNH traded up $7.40 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $303.24. The company's stock had a trading volume of 12,558,756 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,009,546. The stock has a market cap of $275.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.56, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 one year low of $248.88 and a one year high of $630.73. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $409.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $483.40.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the firm posted $6.91 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, Director John H. Noseworthy bought 300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were bought at an average price of $312.16 per share, for a total transaction of $93,648.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 6,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,892,626.08. The trade was a 5.21% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley acquired 86,700 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were bought at an average price of $288.57 per share, for a total transaction of $25,019,019.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 679,493 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $196,081,295.01. The trade was a 14.63% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group stock. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 137.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm 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 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on UNH. TD Securities reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $308.00 target price (down previously from $520.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Argus cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group to $350.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of 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, TD Cowen downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $308.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, May 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $428.43.

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.