UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Shares Down 0.3% After Analyst Downgrade

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) shares fell 0.3% on Wednesday after Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on the stock from $640.00 to $510.00. Robert W. Baird currently has an outperform rating on the stock. UnitedHealth Group traded as low as $401.00 and last traded at $408.11. 2,648,700 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 54% from the average session volume of 5,747,114 shares. The stock had previously closed at $409.23.

Several other analysts also recently commented on UNH. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $525.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $652.00 to $525.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $642.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Argus cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, HSBC restated a “hold” rating and issued a $490.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $596.86.

Institutional Trading of UnitedHealth Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. NewSquare Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $497.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $529.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market cap of $364.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.81, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released 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). UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The business had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $6.91 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.18%.

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.