UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Trading 1.4% Higher - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• UnitedHealth Group's shares rose by 1.4%, reaching a last trading price of $341.49 after trading as high as $342.48 during the session.
• Research firms have set varying price targets for UNH, with JPMorgan Chase lowering its target from $418 to $310, while Truist Financial raised its target from $310 to $365.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $2.21 per share, with a dividend yield of 2.6% and a payout ratio of 38.30%.

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) was up 1.4% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $342.48 and last traded at $341.49. Approximately 8,831,281 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 32% from the average daily volume of 13,010,073 shares. The stock had previously closed at $336.69.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on UNH shares. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $353.00 to $317.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $418.00 to $310.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Bank of America increased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $290.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $306.00 to $267.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Baird R W cut UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $358.95.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 1.9%

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $296.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $362.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $314.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

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

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $2.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. UnitedHealth Group's payout ratio is 38.30%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of UNH. Norges Bank bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the second quarter worth $3,837,207,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew 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 worth $4,344,586,000 after buying an additional 8,280,404 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 1st quarter valued at $3,846,764,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 6.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 5,583,343 shares during the period. Finally, Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,572,193,000. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company's stock.

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.