UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Trading Up 1.6% – Should You Buy?

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)’s share price rose 1.6% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $521.74 and last traded at $521.57. Approximately 600,659 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 4,072,709 shares. The stock had previously closed at $513.43.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. HSBC raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $700.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $508.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $545.16. The company has a market cap of $471.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.26, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The business’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.83 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.63%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 54.19%.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of UNH. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth about $6,375,744,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,914,740,000. Amundi grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 97.2% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 6,069,100 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,183,132,000 after acquiring an additional 2,991,470 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 36.6% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,592,718 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,346,712,000 after purchasing an additional 2,301,010 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 76,830.4% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,888,641 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $955,388,000 after purchasing an additional 1,886,186 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

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.