UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Lowered to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Thursday.

UNH has been the subject of several other research reports. TD Cowen cut their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $607.00 to $546.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Barclays increased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $534.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $596.00 to $555.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Truist Financial restated a buy rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Erste Group Bank restated a hold rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $569.68.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UNH opened at $493.16 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $454.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.54. UnitedHealth Group has a 52-week low of $436.38 and a 52-week high of $554.70. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $488.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $515.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.63 by $0.28. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.50% and a net margin of 4.05%. The business had revenue of $99.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $6.26 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group will post 27.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th were issued a dividend of $1.88 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $7.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.97%.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total value of $597,581.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,527,306.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total value of $597,581.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,527,306.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total value of $451,127.82. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,977,233.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ascension Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter worth $216,000. Bellecapital International Ltd. boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Bellecapital International Ltd. now owns 13,823 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $7,277,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the period. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 34,297 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $17,292,000 after acquiring an additional 1,884 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 326.0% during the 4th quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 213 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $112,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the period. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 84,278 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $44,370,000 after buying an additional 5,023 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

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.