UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Trading Up 0.6% - Time to Buy?

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) was up 0.6% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $282.75 and last traded at $276.10. Approximately 20,311,656 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 259% from the average daily volume of 5,656,783 shares. The stock had previously closed at $274.35.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on UNH shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $563.00 to $374.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Raymond James downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $575.00 to $450.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $560.00 to $350.00 in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $515.00 to $350.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $486.00.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $474.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $515.82. The stock has a market cap of $263.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.78, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

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 (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.91 EPS. Research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.18%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,375,744,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 56,142.1% in 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 buying an additional 8,280,404 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the first quarter worth about $3,846,764,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 5,583,343 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,914,740,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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