UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Trading Down 2% – Time to Sell?

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) shares traded down 2% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $284.36 and last traded at $288.93. 6,878,197 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 33% from the average session volume of 10,295,688 shares. The stock had previously closed at $294.93.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UNH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Monday. Leerink Partners decreased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $410.00 to $345.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Evercore upgraded UnitedHealth Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $411.00 to $409.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $391.00 to $327.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $372.13.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $309.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $326.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market cap of $261.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.41.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $2.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $113.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $113.38 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 14.79% and a net margin of 2.69%.UnitedHealth Group’s quarterly revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $6.81 earnings per share. UnitedHealth Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.750- EPS. Equities analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th will be issued a dividend of $2.21 per share. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.02%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Guerra Advisors Inc bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,059,000. Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,572,193,000. Carnegie Investment Counsel grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 105,621 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $36,471,000 after acquiring an additional 2,316 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 48.9% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,790 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,806,000 after acquiring an additional 1,901 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Phoenix Financial Ltd. increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 111.5% during the 3rd quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. now owns 41,986 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $14,282,000 after purchasing an additional 22,137 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Company Profile

UnitedHealth Group Inc is a diversified health care company headquartered in Minnetonka, Minnesota, that operates two primary business platforms: UnitedHealthcare and Optum. Founded in 1977, the company provides a broad range of health benefits and health care services to individuals, employers, governmental entities and other organizations. Its operations span commercial employer-sponsored plans, individual and Medicare and Medicaid programs, and services for customers and health systems in the United States and selected international markets.

UnitedHealthcare is the company’s benefits business, administering health plans and networks, managing provider relationships, and offering coverage products for employers, individuals, and government-sponsored programs.