UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Trading Down 1.5% - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• UnitedHealth Group's shares have dropped by 1.5%, trading at around $342.63, with a significant decrease in trading volume by 51% compared to the average session.
• Recent analyst reports show a range of downgrades and price target reductions for the stock, with Piper Sandler and HSBC notably decreasing their targets to $317.00 and $270.00 respectively.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $2.21 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 2.5%, with the ex-dividend date set for September 15th.

Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) traded down 1.5% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $341.40 and last traded at $342.63. 6,376,252 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 51% from the average session volume of 12,967,482 shares. The stock had previously closed at $347.92.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNH has been the topic of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $353.00 to $317.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Baird R W lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $521.00 to $362.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. HSBC reissued a "reduce" rating and issued a $270.00 price objective (down from $490.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $306.00 to $267.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $355.77.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The company's 50 day moving average is $289.41 and its 200 day moving average is $371.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $314.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.45.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.45 by ($0.37). The firm had revenue of $111.62 billion for 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $6.80 earnings per share. UnitedHealth Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 16.000- EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 purchasing an additional 5,583,343 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 10.6% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,847,940 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $13,537,859,000 after purchasing an additional 2,486,839 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,312,182 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $6,624,411,000 after purchasing an additional 675,075 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,837,207,000. Finally, Dodge & Cox raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 117.7% in the 2nd quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 8,750,560 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $2,729,912,000 after buying an additional 4,730,192 shares during the last quarter. 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.

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