Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH)

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors bought 234,071 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 40% compared to the typical daily volume of 166,830 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, Director Kristen Gil bought 3,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $271.17 per share, for a total transaction of $1,003,329.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,035,327.06. The trade was a 3,135.59% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Patrick Hugh Conway sold 589 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total transaction of $179,645.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 10,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,171,390. This trade represents a 5.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have purchased 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,729,585 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $47,519,620,000 after buying an additional 5,583,343 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 10.6% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,847,940 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $13,537,859,000 after acquiring an additional 2,486,839 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,956,219 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $10,068,869,000 after purchasing an additional 319,515 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,616,007 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $7,899,905,000 after purchasing an additional 906,365 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $6,375,744,000. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on UNH. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $355.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Wolfe Research decreased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $501.00 to $390.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, TD Securities reiterated 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $415.57.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 4.0%

Shares of UNH traded up $12.35 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $324.32. 12,367,413 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,435,934. UnitedHealth Group has a 1 year low of $248.88 and a 1 year high of $630.73. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $333.94 and its 200-day moving average is $452.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $294.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.45.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.29 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 5.39% and a return on equity of 26.29%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.91 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $2.21 dividend. This is a positive change from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.73%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.02%.

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.