UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Shares Down 0.3% – Should You Sell?

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)’s stock price dropped 0.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $516.80 and last traded at $521.37. Approximately 644,800 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 4,258,878 shares. The stock had previously closed at $523.12.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. HSBC upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $478.25 billion, a PE ratio of 33.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $509.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $542.96.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The company had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.83 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. 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 company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 54.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,302,065. This represents a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. Howard Capital Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter valued at about $341,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 11.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,778,636 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,039,933,000 after buying an additional 180,479 shares in the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.0% during the third quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 56,890 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $33,262,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089 shares during the last quarter. Concentric Capital Strategies LP lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 40.2% during the third quarter. Concentric Capital Strategies LP now owns 3,843 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $2,247,000 after purchasing an additional 1,101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cinctive Capital Management LP bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $3,619,000. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

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.