Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH)

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders bought 162,330 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 29% compared to the typical volume of 126,260 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley acquired 86,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $288.57 per share, with a total value of $25,019,019.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 679,493 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,081,295.01. This represents a 14.63% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kristen Gil acquired 3,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $271.17 per share, for a total transaction of $1,003,329.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,818 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,035,327.06. The trade was a 3,135.59% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768 over the last 90 days. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. NewSquare Capital LLC purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 685.7% during the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 55 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 2.5%

NYSE UNH traded up $7.40 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $303.24. The company had a trading volume of 12,558,756 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,009,546. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $409.03 and a 200 day moving average of $483.40. UnitedHealth Group has a 1-year low of $248.88 and a 1-year high of $630.73. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $275.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.44.

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

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $2.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This is a positive change from UnitedHealth Group's previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.92%. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.02%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UNH has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $563.00 to $374.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Argus cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group to $350.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Bank of America lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the company from $560.00 to $350.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, HSBC reissued a "reduce" rating and issued a $270.00 price target (down previously from $490.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $428.43.

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.