UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Shares Down 5.1% After Analyst Downgrade

Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) traded down 5.1% during trading on Monday after Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on the stock from $664.00 to $563.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock. UnitedHealth Group traded as low as $431.98 and last traded at $431.11. 3,667,024 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 32% from the average session volume of 5,425,924 shares. The stock had previously closed at $454.11.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on UNH. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $640.00 to $600.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Barclays decreased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $642.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Argus cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $660.00 to $580.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, HSBC reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $490.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $608.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Financial Management Professionals Inc. increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 2,224 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,165,000 after buying an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 902 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $456,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 2,578 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,304,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC now owns 575 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $291,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Richwood Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Richwood Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,247 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $2,654,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 0.4 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $390.67 billion, a PE ratio of 27.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $508.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $537.99.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.29 by ($0.09). UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The company had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.91 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.18%.

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.