UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Given Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-four analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation and fifteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $366.5238.

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Several analysts have recently issued reports on UNH shares. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $353.00 to $317.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. KeyCorp dropped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Argus downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st.

View Our Latest Stock Report on UnitedHealth Group

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

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Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $271.92 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $289.37 and a 200 day moving average of $401.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $246.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.43. UnitedHealth Group has a 12 month low of $234.60 and a 12 month high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.45 by ($0.37). The business had revenue of $111.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.75 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 23.32% and a net margin of 5.04%. UnitedHealth Group's revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $6.80 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

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The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $2.21 dividend. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 38.30%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Patrick Hugh Conway sold 589 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total transaction of $179,645.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 10,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,171,390. This trade represents a 5.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley purchased 86,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $288.57 per share, for a total transaction of $25,019,019.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 679,493 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,081,295.01. The trade was a 14.63% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 6.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,729,585 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $47,519,620,000 after purchasing an additional 5,583,343 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 10.6% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,847,940 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $13,537,859,000 after acquiring an additional 2,486,839 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.3% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,312,182 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $6,624,411,000 after buying an additional 675,075 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,616,007 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $7,899,905,000 after buying an additional 906,365 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,837,207,000. 87.86% of the stock is 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.

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