UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Shares Down 1.7% - What's Next?

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report)'s share price dropped 1.7% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $490.62 and last traded at $491.30. Approximately 1,945,554 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 52% from the average daily volume of 4,063,784 shares. The stock had previously closed at $499.72.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on UNH shares. Hsbc Global Res lowered UnitedHealth Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. KeyCorp began coverage on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, October 11th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $675.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group cut their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $626.84.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market cap of $450.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.87, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $574.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $559.44.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.00 by $0.15. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The business had revenue of $100.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.14 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.56 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.72%. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.72%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Goldstein Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 2.9% during the second quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC now owns 1,293 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $658,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. JB Capital LLC boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 3.8% during the second quarter. JB Capital LLC now owns 6,965 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $3,548,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 7.9% during the second quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 11,831 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $6,025,000 after buying an additional 867 shares during the last quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $203,000. Finally, Avalon Capital Management purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $235,000. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company's stock.

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.