UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Reaches New 1-Year Low - What's Next?

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week low on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $327.10 and last traded at $323.62, with a volume of 10480286 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $378.75.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UNH has been the subject of several research reports. Raymond James reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $540.00 target price (down from $635.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $640.00 to $600.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $640.00 to $510.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $596.86.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 15.7%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company has a market capitalization of $289.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.59, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a 50 day moving average of $486.06 and a 200-day moving average of $520.74.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $111.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $6.91 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.63%. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.18%.

Institutional Trading of UnitedHealth Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 19.3% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,197,427 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $2,721,912,000 after buying an additional 839,002 shares during the period. Horizon Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 8.6% during the first quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 11,462 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $6,003,000 after purchasing an additional 908 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.7% during the first quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 11,500 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $6,023,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 13.0% during the first quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 380,359 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $199,212,000 after purchasing an additional 43,893 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 27.6% during the first quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. now owns 3,030 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $1,587,000 after purchasing an additional 655 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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