UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• UnitedHealth Group's shares gapped up after Truist Financial upgraded their price target from $310 to $365, leading to a trading price of $332.50.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on the stock, with 16 recommending a buy, 6 a hold, and 3 a sell, reflecting a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $2.21, translating to an annual yield of 2.6% and demonstrating a dividend payout ratio of 38.30%.

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday after Truist Financial raised their price target on the stock from $310.00 to $365.00. The stock had previously closed at $320.25, but opened at $332.50. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the stock. UnitedHealth Group shares last traded at $332.54, with a volume of 8,833,270 shares traded.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on UNH. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $440.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Robert W. Baird reiterated an "underperform" rating and set a $198.00 target price (down from $312.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. TD Cowen cut UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $308.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, May 19th. Raymond James Financial cut UnitedHealth Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $342.00 to $325.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $355.77.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of UNH. Norges Bank bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the second quarter valued at about $3,837,207,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in 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 valued at $4,344,586,000 after acquiring an additional 8,280,404 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the first quarter valued at about $3,846,764,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the second quarter valued at about $1,572,193,000. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 7.9%

The stock has a market cap of $313.04 billion, a PE ratio of 15.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.45. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $288.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $371.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.45 by ($0.37). The firm had revenue of $111.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $111.75 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 5.04% and a return on equity of 23.32%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $6.80 EPS. UnitedHealth Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 16.000- EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a $2.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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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