UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Trading 0.6% Higher - Should You Buy?

Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) shot up 0.6% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $321.90 and last traded at $317.76. 16,050,941 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 161% from the average session volume of 6,147,651 shares. The stock had previously closed at $315.89.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on UNH. HSBC restated a "reduce" rating and set a $270.00 target price (down from $490.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $355.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $510.00 to $356.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $400.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Argus downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $441.87.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 2.2%

The company has a market cap of $268.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.13, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $456.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $506.94.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 previous year, the company posted $6.91 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.83%. UnitedHealth Group's payout ratio is currently 35.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, Director Kristen Gil purchased 3,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $271.17 per share, with a total value of $1,003,329.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 3,818 shares in the company, valued at $1,035,327.06. This trade represents a 3,135.59% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley purchased 86,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $288.57 per share, with a total value of $25,019,019.00. Following the acquisition, 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 bought 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768 over the last quarter. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. Norges Bank purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $6,375,744,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted 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 worth $4,344,586,000 after buying an additional 8,280,404 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the first quarter worth $3,846,764,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 worth $47,519,620,000 after buying an additional 5,583,343 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth $1,914,740,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.