UnitedHealth Group Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:UNH)

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors bought 227,237 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 9% compared to the typical volume of 207,887 call options.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 2.1%

UNH stock opened at $266.43 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The company’s 50 day moving average is $298.96 and its 200 day moving average is $420.36. The stock has a market cap of $241.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.45. UnitedHealth Group has a 1-year low of $248.88 and a 1-year high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.45 by ($0.37). The company had revenue of $111.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.75 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 23.32% and a net margin of 5.04%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $6.80 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $2.21 per share. This is a boost from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on UNH. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $350.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $355.00 to $286.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. TD Securities reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $308.00 price target (down from $520.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $563.00 to $374.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $378.95.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, CFO John F. Rex purchased 17,175 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $291.12 per share, for a total transaction of $4,999,986.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer owned 203,796 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,329,091.52. This trade represents a 9.20% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kristen Gil purchased 3,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $271.17 per share, with a total value of $1,003,329.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 3,818 shares in the company, valued at $1,035,327.06. This represents a 3,135.59% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased a total of 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768 in the last ninety days. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of UNH. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 176.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 44,249 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $22,384,000 after acquiring an additional 28,231 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 137.1% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,019 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $2,033,000 after purchasing an additional 2,324 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 263,655 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $133,373,000 after purchasing an additional 9,872 shares during the last quarter. Partners in Financial Planning bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $213,000. Finally, FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,829 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $925,000 after purchasing an additional 50 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.