UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and fifteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $570.05.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on UNH shares. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $591.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $566.00 to $571.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. StockNews.com lowered UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $596.00 to $555.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Trading of UnitedHealth Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 83,860,515 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $44,150,045,000 after buying an additional 250,291 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,220,234 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $12,715,790,000 after buying an additional 527,526 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 15,122,203 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $7,961,369,000 after purchasing an additional 324,733 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,860,985 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $6,244,158,000 after purchasing an additional 542,424 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth about $5,802,231,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $493.88 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $486.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $514.42. UnitedHealth Group has a 52-week low of $436.38 and a 52-week high of $554.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $454.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.54.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $99.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $6.26 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group will post 27.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

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

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.