UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Shares Down 1.5%

Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) were down 1.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $593.50 and last traded at $595.28. Approximately 551,475 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 4,067,675 shares. The stock had previously closed at $604.18.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on UNH. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $597.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays boosted their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $560.00 to $604.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. StockNews.com upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and set a $591.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Monday, August 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $614.17.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market cap of $549.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $557.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $514.62.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.66 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $98.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $98.73 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.55% and a net margin of 3.66%. The company's revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $6.14 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.67 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 2,851 shares of the business's 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,501 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,812,029.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 2,851 shares of the company's 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 of the company's stock, valued at $16,812,029.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,500 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,785 shares in the company, valued at $4,507,748.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 84,405,255 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $41,755,280,000 after acquiring an additional 544,740 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,062,928 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $12,893,331,000 after purchasing an additional 94,641 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 15,122,203 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $7,961,369,000 after purchasing an additional 324,733 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,860,985 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $6,244,158,000 after purchasing an additional 542,424 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,802,231,000. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.