UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Trading 1.4% Higher – What’s Next?

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)’s stock price was up 1.4% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $617.44 and last traded at $614.17. Approximately 819,191 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 3,892,059 shares. The stock had previously closed at $605.45.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UNH has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. HSBC downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Jefferies Financial Group raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $481.00 to $647.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Stephens lowered their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $632.00 to $605.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, October 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $675.00 price target for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $615.53.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 1.7 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company has a market capitalization of $566.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $581.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $543.74.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.00 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $100.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.14 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $6.56 EPS. Equities analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.36%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 54.72%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Macroview Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 671.4% in the 2nd quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 54 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 757.1% during the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 60 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 152.4% during the third quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 53 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.