UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Trading 1.6% Higher - Here's Why

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) was up 1.6% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $311.58 and last traded at $308.59. Approximately 6,792,616 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 4% from the average daily volume of 7,063,396 shares. The stock had previously closed at $303.79.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Argus cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Mizuho lowered their price objective 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. Truist Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $360.00 target price (down previously from $580.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Monday, May 19th. Barclays reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group to $350.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $426.52.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company's 50-day moving average price is $395.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $478.20. The company has a market cap of $281.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.45.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $7.29 by ($0.09). UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The business had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $6.91 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $2.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.85%. This is an increase from UnitedHealth Group's previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. UnitedHealth Group's payout ratio is presently 37.02%.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, CFO John F. Rex acquired 17,175 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $291.12 per share, with a total value of $4,999,986.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 203,796 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,329,091.52. The trade was a 9.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley bought 86,700 shares of the 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 purchase, the chief executive officer now 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 acquired 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. Nicola Wealth Management LTD. raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.2% during the first quarter. Nicola Wealth Management LTD. now owns 46,400 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $24,302,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Cim LLC raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Cim LLC now owns 38,519 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $20,174,000 after purchasing an additional 467 shares in the last quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 25.5% in the 1st quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 85,563 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $44,814,000 after buying an additional 17,390 shares in the last quarter. Invst LLC raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 295.3% during the first quarter. Invst LLC now owns 5,491 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $2,876,000 after acquiring an additional 4,102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hodges Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the first quarter worth approximately $210,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company's stock.

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.