UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Trading 2.2% Higher – Time to Buy?

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) shares shot up 2.2% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $516.29 and last traded at $515.45. 707,996 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 2,377,721 shares. The stock had previously closed at $504.51.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UNH has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America decreased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $625.00 target price (down from $640.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, October 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $675.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $591.00 to $644.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $628.37.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 1.7 %

The business has a 50-day moving average of $559.83 and a 200-day moving average of $560.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market cap of $472.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.62.

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

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.72%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 220,590 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $128,975,000 after buying an additional 26,074 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1,275.3% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 44,547 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $26,060,000 after acquiring an additional 41,308 shares during the period. Parsifal Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $21,165,000. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $558,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% during 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. 87.86% of the stock is owned by 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.