UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,430,000 shares, a drop of 18.8% from the November 30th total of 7,920,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 4,360,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.5 days. Approximately 0.7% of the shares of the company are short sold.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of UNH stock traded down $1.16 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $509.99. 3,471,108 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,101,650. UnitedHealth Group has a 12-month low of $436.38 and a 12-month high of $630.73. 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 $469.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.22, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $565.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $560.67.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.00 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $100.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.14 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 26.37%. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $6.56 EPS. On average, analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group 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 issued a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 54.72%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on UNH. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. TD Cowen boosted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, October 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $675.00 price target for the company. Finally, Stephens raised their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $626.84.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Delta Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Delta Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,650 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $965,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC now owns 3,695 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,882,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. First PREMIER Bank increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 7.0% during the third quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 274 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $160,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Genesee Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Genesee Capital Advisors LLC now owns 990 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $579,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Finally, Jmac Enterprises LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.2% during the third quarter. Jmac Enterprises LLC now owns 823 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $481,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. 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.