UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Trading Down 2.7% – Time to Sell?

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)’s share price fell 2.7% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $583.08 and last traded at $583.28. 1,257,878 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 4,333,009 shares. The stock had previously closed at $599.47.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UNH has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. HSBC raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $650.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Twenty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $632.85.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 3.0 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $531.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $512.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $541.80.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The firm had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.83 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,302,065. This trade represents a 28.57 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of UnitedHealth Group

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Howard Capital Management Group LLC bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter worth $341,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,778,636 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,039,933,000 after purchasing an additional 180,479 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 220,590 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $128,975,000 after purchasing an additional 26,074 shares during the period. McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 8.2% during the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 635 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $371,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 1,275 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $746,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently 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.