UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Shares Up 0.9% After Dividend Announcement

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)’s stock price traded up 0.9% during mid-day trading on Thursday after the company announced a dividend. The company traded as high as $603.62 and last traded at $602.08. 891,045 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 3,886,085 shares. The stock had previously closed at $596.69.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is presently 54.72%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $625.00 price target (down from $640.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $591.00 to $644.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. TD Cowen raised their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $604.00 to $603.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $615.53.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $581.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $545.03. The firm has a market cap of $567.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.58.

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

Institutional Trading of UnitedHealth Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Macroview Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 671.4% during the second quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 54 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $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 valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.