UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Stock Price Up 1.3% – Should You Buy?

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) rose 1.3% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $565.47 and last traded at $565.23. Approximately 447,800 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 3,877,344 shares. The stock had previously closed at $557.77.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on UNH shares. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $625.00 price objective (down from $640.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $597.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, KeyCorp began coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, October 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $675.00 target price on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $615.53.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 1.6 %

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $581.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $542.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $523.49 billion, a PE ratio of 36.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

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

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.72%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hemenway Trust Co LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Hemenway Trust Co LLC now owns 51,916 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $30,354,000 after buying an additional 1,161 shares during the last quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 108.6% in the third quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 3,312 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,937,000 after acquiring an additional 1,724 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 35,970 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $21,031,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,607,227 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,524,393,000 after buying an additional 10,816 shares during the period. Finally, Iyo Bank Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 4.8% during the third quarter. Iyo Bank Ltd. now owns 22,410 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $13,103,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020 shares during the period. 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.