UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Shares Down 1.9% Following Analyst Downgrade

Key Points

• UnitedHealth Group's shares declined by 1.9% after JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on the stock from $418.00 to $310.00, although maintaining an overweight rating.
• Several analysts have also lowered their target prices, with Wells Fargo setting a target of $267.00 and Piper Sandler adjusting theirs to $317.00.
• Insider trading saw CFO John F. Rex purchase 17,175 shares at an average price of $291.12, increasing his holdings in the company, while a total of 109,408 shares were bought by insiders in the past ninety days.

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) fell 1.9% during trading on Thursday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on the stock from $418.00 to $310.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. UnitedHealth Group traded as low as $239.50 and last traded at $241.23. 4,999,267 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 59% from the average session volume of 12,066,206 shares. The stock had previously closed at $245.78.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $306.00 to $267.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $353.00 to $317.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. TD Securities reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $308.00 price target (down previously from $520.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $521.00 to $362.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $563.00 to $374.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $366.52.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, CFO John F. Rex purchased 17,175 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $291.12 per share, for a total transaction of $4,999,986.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer directly owned 203,796 shares in the company, valued at $59,329,091.52. This trade represents a 9.20% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kristen Gil bought 3,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was bought at an average price of $271.17 per share, with a total value of $1,003,329.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 3,818 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 have purchased a total of 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768 in the last ninety days. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of UNH. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 56,142.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,295,153 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $4,344,586,000 after buying an additional 8,280,404 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $3,846,764,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,729,585 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $47,519,620,000 after purchasing an additional 5,583,343 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 10.6% during the first 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 during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 36.6% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,592,718 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $4,346,712,000 after buying an additional 2,301,010 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company's stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 1.8%

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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $293.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $410.54. The company has a market cap of $219.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.45, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.43.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.45 by ($0.37). The business had revenue of $111.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.75 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 5.04% and a return on equity of 23.32%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $6.80 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $2.21 dividend. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This is an increase from UnitedHealth Group's previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio is 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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