UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Shares Up 5.6% After Dividend Announcement

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) shares traded up 5.6% during trading on Wednesday after the company announced a dividend. The company traded as high as $605.50 and last traded at $598.70. 2,716,285 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 30% from the average session volume of 3,881,026 shares. The stock had previously closed at $567.03.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 54.72%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UNH has been the topic of several research reports. Stephens cut their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $632.00 to $605.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $625.00 target price (down from $640.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $597.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Four 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 MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $615.53.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 5.6 %

The company’s 50 day moving average is $580.96 and its 200 day moving average is $543.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $552.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.00, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.91.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.00 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $100.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.14 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 26.37%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $6.56 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 78,814.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,296,737 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,096,896,000 after purchasing an additional 5,290,025 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 1st quarter worth about $1,117,462,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 107.8% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,306,729 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,141,113,000 after acquiring an additional 1,196,758 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $480,903,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 30.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,816,254 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,942,956,000 after buying an additional 880,183 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

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.