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

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)’s stock price was up 2.2% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $303.78 and last traded at $301.44. Approximately 7,944,425 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 19% from the average daily volume of 6,663,248 shares. The stock had previously closed at $295.00.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UNH has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $563.00 to $374.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $515.00 to $350.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $521.00 to $362.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $575.00 to $450.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $441.87.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 1.3%

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $443.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $500.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market cap of $271.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.29, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its 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 analyst estimates of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $6.91 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley purchased 86,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $288.57 per share, with a total value of $25,019,019.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 679,493 shares in the company, valued at $196,081,295.01. The trade was a 14.63% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,533 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $320.80 per share, for a total transaction of $491,786.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,935,386.40. This trade represents a 34.07% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders purchased 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of UNH. Capital & Planning LLC increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 19.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 491 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $248,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 176.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 44,249 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $22,384,000 after purchasing an additional 28,231 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 6,916 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,498,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,233,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 73,275 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $37,067,000 after purchasing an additional 4,295 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Company Profile

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.