UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Director Timothy Patrick Flynn Purchases 1,000 Shares

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,302,065. The trade was a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $519.08 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $630.73. The company has a market capitalization of $477.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.62. The business has a 50-day moving average of $545.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $564.10.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The business had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.83 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.62%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 54.19%.

Institutional Trading of UnitedHealth Group

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,540,102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $26,626,387,000 after buying an additional 563,554 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,636,704 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $11,440,133,000 after purchasing an additional 318,039 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,061,916 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,884,019,000 after acquiring an additional 193,800 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 78,814.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,296,737 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,096,896,000 after buying an additional 5,290,025 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,772,487 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,920,039,000 after purchasing an additional 21,149 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on UNH shares. Barclays reduced their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $627.74.

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.