UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Stock Price Down 1.4% on Analyst Downgrade

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) shares fell 1.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after UBS Group lowered their price target on the stock from $400.00 to $385.00. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. UnitedHealth Group traded as low as $299.80 and last traded at $301.47. 3,015,032 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 59% from the average session volume of 7,364,845 shares. The stock had previously closed at $305.62.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on UNH. TD Cowen downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $308.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $521.00 to $362.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $405.00 to $418.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $515.00 to $350.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $415.57.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, CEO Patrick Hugh Conway sold 589 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total value of $179,645.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 10,398 shares in the company, valued at $3,171,390. The trade was a 5.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kristen Gil bought 3,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $271.17 per share, with a total value of $1,003,329.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,818 shares in the company, valued at $1,035,327.06. This trade represents a 3,135.59% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768 over the last quarter. 0.28% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,729,585 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $47,519,620,000 after acquiring an additional 5,583,343 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 10.6% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,847,940 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $13,537,859,000 after acquiring an additional 2,486,839 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,956,219 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $10,068,869,000 after buying an additional 319,515 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,616,007 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $7,899,905,000 after acquiring an additional 906,365 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $6,375,744,000. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company's stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 2.1%

The company has a market capitalization of $280.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.93, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $336.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $454.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $7.29 by ($0.09). UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 5.39% and a return on equity of 26.29%. The company had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $111.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $6.91 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $2.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. This is a positive change from UnitedHealth Group's previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.02%.

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.