UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Trading Down 1.2% - What's Next?

Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) dropped 1.2% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $289.13 and last traded at $292.10. Approximately 8,072,134 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 22% from the average daily volume of 6,609,828 shares. The stock had previously closed at $295.57.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UNH has been the topic of a number of research reports. Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $360.00 target price (down previously from $580.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $563.00 to $374.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Raymond James cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $355.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $521.00 to $362.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $441.87.

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 has a market capitalization of $273.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56. The business's fifty day moving average price is $443.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $500.04.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,533 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $320.80 per share, with a total value of $491,786.40. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 6,033 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,935,386.40. The trade was a 34.07% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley acquired 86,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $288.57 per share, with a total value of $25,019,019.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 679,493 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $196,081,295.01. The trade was a 14.63% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of UNH. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,375,744,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $3,846,764,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased 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 acquiring an additional 5,583,343 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,914,740,000. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.