UnitedHealth Group Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:UNH)

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders acquired 123,300 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 33% compared to the typical volume of 92,702 call options.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UNH stock traded up $1.87 on Tuesday, reaching $317.76. The company had a trading volume of 16,050,941 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,147,651. The company has a market cap of $288.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.50, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56. The company’s fifty day moving average is $467.51 and its 200 day moving average is $511.49. UnitedHealth Group has a 1 year low of $248.88 and a 1 year high of $630.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted 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). UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The firm had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $6.91 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.64%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.18%.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, CFO John F. Rex purchased 17,175 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were bought at an average price of $291.12 per share, for a total transaction of $4,999,986.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley bought 86,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $288.57 per share, for a total transaction of $25,019,019.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly 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 position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders purchased 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of UnitedHealth Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,729,585 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $47,519,620,000 after purchasing an additional 5,583,343 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 10.6% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,847,940 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $13,537,859,000 after acquiring an additional 2,486,839 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,375,744,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on UNH. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $677.00 to $351.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Oppenheimer cut their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $360.00 price objective (down previously from $580.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Monday. Raymond James lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Erste Group Bank cut UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $454.23.

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.