UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Shares Gap Up Following Insider Buying Activity

Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) gapped up before the market opened on Monday following insider buying activity. The stock had previously closed at $291.91, but opened at $304.78. UnitedHealth Group shares last traded at $300.33, with a volume of 17,328,316 shares traded.

Specifically, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley bought 86,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $288.57 per share, for a total transaction of $25,019,019.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 679,493 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $196,081,295.01. This trade represents a 14.63% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO John F. Rex purchased 17,175 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $291.12 per share, with a total value of $4,999,986.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 203,796 shares in the company, valued at $59,329,091.52. This trade represents a 9.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In related news, Director John H. Noseworthy bought 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $312.16 per share, for a total transaction of $93,648.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 6,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,892,626.08. This trade represents a 5.21% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UNH has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $360.00 price objective (down previously from $580.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Monday. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $510.00 to $356.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. HSBC restated a “hold” rating and set a $490.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $355.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $461.19.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 3.5%

The firm has a market cap of $274.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56. 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 business’s 50-day moving average is $470.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $513.25.

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

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 35.18%.

Institutional Trading of UnitedHealth Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. NewSquare Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 685.7% during the first quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 55 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth about $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.