UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Shares Up 1.8% - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• UnitedHealth Group's shares rose 1.8% to $305.17, but trading volume was significantly lower than average, indicating cautious investor sentiment.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed views, with 15 giving a "Buy" rating and others recommending a "Reduce" or changing from "Strong Buy" to "Market Perform," reflecting a consensus price target of $365.38.
• The company reported a miss in quarterly earnings with an EPS of $4.08, lower than the expected $4.45, despite a revenue increase of 12.9% compared to the previous year.

Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) traded up 1.8% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $305.55 and last traded at $305.17. 4,837,473 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 62% from the average session volume of 12,795,818 shares. The stock had previously closed at $299.84.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UNH has been the subject of several research reports. HSBC reaffirmed a "reduce" rating and set a $270.00 price objective (down previously from $490.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Raymond James Financial cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $515.00 to $350.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $355.00 to $286.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $365.38.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

The firm's fifty day moving average price is $288.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $392.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $276.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.43.

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

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $2.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio is 38.30%.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, CEO Patrick Hugh Conway sold 589 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total value of $179,645.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 10,398 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,171,390. This represents a 5.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of UNH. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,729,585 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $47,519,620,000 after acquiring an additional 5,583,343 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,486,839 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.3% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,312,182 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $6,624,411,000 after buying an additional 675,075 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,837,207,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,503,671 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $4,807,527,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058,488 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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