UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Sees Large Volume Increase After Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• UnitedHealth Group shares experienced a large volume increase after Bank of America upgraded their price target from $290 to $325, with the stock trading at $314.73 after closing at $304.01.
• CEO Patrick Hugh Conway sold 589 shares at an average price of $305, decreasing his position by 5.36%, while insiders own only 0.28% of the stock.
• UnitedHealth Group announced a quarterly dividend of $2.21, reflecting an annualized yield of 2.8% and a payout ratio of 38.30%.

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) shares saw unusually-high trading volume on Monday after Bank of America raised their price target on the stock from $290.00 to $325.00. Bank of America currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Approximately 12,896,529 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 3% from the previous session's volume of 12,573,052 shares.The stock last traded at $314.73 and had previously closed at $304.01.

UNH has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $360.00 to $345.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $515.00 to $350.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Robert W. Baird reissued an "underperform" rating and issued a $198.00 price target (down from $312.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $367.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 transaction 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.28% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of UnitedHealth Group

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 685.7% during the first quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 55 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Sagard Holdings Management Inc. bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the second quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Islay Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company's stock.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

The firm's 50-day moving average is $288.91 and its 200-day moving average is $395.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The company has a market cap of $285.39 billion, a PE ratio of 13.68, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.43.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $4.08 EPS 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 business had revenue of $111.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.75 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $6.80 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $2.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. UnitedHealth Group's payout ratio is presently 38.30%.

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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