UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Stock Price Up 1.2% - Time to Buy?

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report)'s stock price shot up 1.2% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $306.71 and last traded at $305.74. 2,091,809 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 7,383,132 shares. The stock had previously closed at $302.02.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on UNH. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $400.00 to $385.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $563.00 to $374.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $552.00 to $353.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Raymond James Financial cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $415.57.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 2.1%

The company's 50 day moving average is $339.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $456.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market cap of $280.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.93, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.44.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.56 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $6.91 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $2.21 per share. This is a boost from UnitedHealth Group's previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. UnitedHealth Group's payout ratio is currently 37.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Kristen Gil bought 3,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $271.17 per share, with a total value of $1,003,329.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,818 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,035,327.06. This trade represents a 3,135.59% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley purchased 86,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $288.57 per share, for a total transaction of $25,019,019.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 679,493 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,081,295.01. This represents a 14.63% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768 in the last 90 days. 0.28% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of UNH. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth about $6,375,744,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 56,142.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,295,153 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $4,344,586,000 after purchasing an additional 8,280,404 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $3,846,764,000. 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 valued at $47,519,620,000 after acquiring an additional 5,583,343 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,914,740,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.