UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Trading Down 3.6% - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• UnitedHealth Group's shares fell 3.6% during mid-day trading, closing at $354.30 after trading as low as $352.51.
• Barclays and Wells Fargo upgraded their price targets to $386.00 and $400.00 respectively, while Weiss Ratings maintained a "sell" rating.
• The company reported $4.08 EPS for the last quarter, missing estimates, but showed a revenue increase of 12.9% compared to the previous year.

Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) fell 3.6% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $352.51 and last traded at $354.30. 12,321,149 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 3% from the average session volume of 12,723,711 shares. The stock had previously closed at $367.69.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $352.00 to $386.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $267.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $400.00 to $325.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird restated an "underperform" rating and issued a $198.00 target price (down previously from $312.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $383.09.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 3.6%

The company's 50 day moving average price is $315.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $351.51. The company has a market cap of $320.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85.

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

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a $2.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.30%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of UNH. Citizens National Bank Trust Department lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Citizens National Bank Trust Department now owns 17,886 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $9,368,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the period. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.3% in the first quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 530,103 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $277,641,000 after buying an additional 1,465 shares in the last quarter. Caitlin John LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 14.8% in the first quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 862 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $451,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Triumph Capital Management bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the second quarter worth $1,324,000. Finally, Wealth Effects LLC increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 14.4% in the second quarter. Wealth Effects LLC now owns 4,688 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $1,463,000 after purchasing an additional 591 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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