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

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) fell 1.4% on Thursday after Truist Financial lowered their price target on the stock from $360.00 to $345.00. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the stock. UnitedHealth Group traded as low as $283.83 and last traded at $288.44. 5,992,440 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 23% from the average session volume of 7,748,609 shares. The stock had previously closed at $292.49.

UNH has been the subject of a number of other reports. Raymond James Financial cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. HSBC reiterated a "reduce" rating and issued a $270.00 target price (down from $490.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $552.00 to $353.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Bank of America cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $560.00 to $350.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Argus cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. One equities research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $414.35.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, Director Kristen Gil purchased 3,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $271.17 per share, with a total value of $1,003,329.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 3,818 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,035,327.06. This represents a 3,135.59% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,533 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $320.80 per share, for a total transaction of $491,786.40. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 6,033 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,935,386.40. The trade was a 34.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Emerald Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 19.4% in the 2nd quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 1,089 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $340,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Bluesphere Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $485,000. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 18.1% during the 2nd quarter. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. now owns 680 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $212,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the period. Summit Financial Strategies Inc. boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 23.8% during the 2nd quarter. Summit Financial Strategies Inc. now owns 1,754 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $547,000 after buying an additional 337 shares during the period. Finally, Asio Capital LLC raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 31.0% in the 2nd quarter. Asio Capital LLC now owns 20,440 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $6,377,000 after purchasing an additional 4,841 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company's stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 1.5%

The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $261.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.45. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $306.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $434.93.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.29 by ($0.09). UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.29% and a net margin of 5.39%. The company had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $6.91 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $2.21 dividend. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.07%. This is a positive change from UnitedHealth Group's previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.02%.

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.