UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Shares Down 0% – Here’s What Happened

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) shares dropped 0% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $500.59 and last traded at $506.10. Approximately 1,824,393 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 56% from the average daily volume of 4,107,071 shares. The stock had previously closed at $506.34.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on UNH shares. HSBC lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Stephens upped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $675.00 target price for the company. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $603.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $626.84.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 0.0 %

The business has a 50-day moving average of $569.31 and a 200-day moving average of $560.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $465.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.58.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.00 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $100.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.14 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $6.56 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 54.72%.

Institutional Trading of UnitedHealth Group

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 40.5% in the second quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 1,245 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $626,000 after buying an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the second quarter worth approximately $64,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Kelleher Financial Advisors now owns 3,287 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,674,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 16.6% during the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 133,467 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $67,969,000 after purchasing an additional 18,992 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Capital Advisory LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the second quarter worth approximately $106,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.