Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of UnitedHealth Group Call Options (NYSE:UNH)

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders purchased 35,174 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 66% compared to the typical volume of 21,197 call options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,500 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $579.03, for a total value of $868,545.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 7,785 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,507,748.55. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,500 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $579.03, for a total value of $868,545.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 7,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,507,748.55. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 2,851 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $569.88, for a total transaction of $1,624,727.88. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,501 shares in the company, valued at $16,812,029.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bell Investment Advisors Inc grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 525 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $276,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 35,946 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $17,783,000 after acquiring an additional 1,129 shares during the period. Austin Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 9.8% during the 1st quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,246 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $573,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Capital Insight Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Capital Insight Partners LLC now owns 9,045 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,475,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the period. Finally, Collective Family Office LLC grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Collective Family Office LLC now owns 1,577 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $780,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UNH opened at $593.99 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $569.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $517.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company has a market cap of $548.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.58. UnitedHealth Group has a 12-month low of $436.38 and a 12-month high of $607.94.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.66 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $98.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $98.73 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.55% and a net margin of 3.66%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $6.14 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group will post 27.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UNH has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group upped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $481.00 to $647.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $591.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $614.17.

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.