UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Stock Price Down 0.9% – Should You Sell?

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)’s stock price was down 0.9% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $381.75 and last traded at $382.23. Approximately 2,187,026 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 53% from the average daily volume of 4,675,084 shares. The stock had previously closed at $385.55.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on UNH shares. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $640.00 to $510.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. KeyCorp decreased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $650.00 to $575.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $540.00 price objective (down from $635.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $596.86.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 1.3 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $346.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.56, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $488.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $522.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.29 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $6.91 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.18%.

Institutional Trading of UnitedHealth Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in UNH. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 9,115 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,611,000 after buying an additional 1,051 shares in the last quarter. Waycross Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Waycross Partners LLC now owns 27,794 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $14,060,000 after purchasing an additional 658 shares in the last quarter. Full Sail Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Full Sail Capital LLC now owns 1,612 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $815,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 199,536 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $100,937,000 after buying an additional 11,426 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lmcg Investments LLC increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC now owns 37,974 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $19,210,000 after buying an additional 4,022 shares in 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.