UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $524.70, but opened at $582.17. UnitedHealth Group shares last traded at $565.09, with a volume of 1,799,932 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UNH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Truist Financial dropped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, HSBC raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Twenty 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 an average target price of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average is $508.87 and its 200 day moving average is $541.48. The company has a market cap of $509.45 billion, a PE ratio of 35.95, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

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

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.51%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 54.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. NewSquare Capital LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. 87.86% of the stock is 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.