UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Shares Down 0.3% on Analyst Downgrade

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) shares traded down 0.3% during trading on Wednesday after Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on the stock from $640.00 to $510.00. Robert W. Baird currently has an outperform rating on the stock. UnitedHealth Group traded as low as $401.00 and last traded at $408.11. 2,648,700 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 54% from the average session volume of 5,747,114 shares. The stock had previously closed at $409.23.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on UNH. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $664.00 to $563.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $652.00 to $525.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Argus lowered UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $596.86.

Institutional Trading of UnitedHealth Group

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NewSquare Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company's stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83. The company has a market capitalization of $370.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. The business has a 50 day moving average of $499.59 and a 200-day moving average of $532.08.

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). The firm had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $6.91 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.06%. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.18%.

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.

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