Spotlight on UnitedHealth Group: Analyzing the Surge in Options Activity

Investors with a lot of money to spend have taken a bearish stance on UnitedHealth Group UNH.

And retail traders should know.

We noticed this today when the trades showed up on publicly available options history that we track here at Benzinga.

Whether these are institutions or just wealthy individuals, we don't know. But when something this big happens with UNH, it often means somebody knows something is about to happen.

So how do we know what these investors just did?

Today, Benzinga's options scanner spotted 11 uncommon options trades for UnitedHealth Group.

This isn't normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 36% bullish and 63%, bearish.

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 6 are puts, for a total amount of $301,900, and 5 are calls, for a total amount of $191,532.

Projected Price Targets

Analyzing the Volume and Open Interest in these contracts, it seems that the big players have been eyeing a price window from $400.0 to $500.0 for UnitedHealth Group during the past quarter.

Analyzing Volume & Open Interest

In terms of liquidity and interest, the mean open interest for UnitedHealth Group options trades today is 654.7 with a total volume of 925.00.

In the following chart, we are able to follow the development of volume and open interest of call and put options for UnitedHealth Group's big money trades within a strike price range of $400.0 to $500.0 over the last 30 days.

UnitedHealth Group Call and Put Volume: 30-Day Overview

Significant Options Trades Detected:

About UnitedHealth Group

UnitedHealth Group is one of the largest private health insurers, providing medical benefits to about 53 million members globally, including 5 million outside the U.S. as of mid-2023. As a leader in employer-sponsored, self-directed, and government-backed insurance plans, UnitedHealth has obtained massive scale in managed care. Along with its insurance assets, UnitedHealth's continued investments in its Optum franchises have created a healthcare services colossus that spans everything from medical and pharmaceutical benefits to providing outpatient care and analytics to both affiliated and third-party customers.

Following our analysis of the options activities associated with UnitedHealth Group, we pivot to a closer look at the company's own performance.

Present Market Standing of UnitedHealth Group

• Currently trading with a volume of 1,094,879, the UNH's price is down by -0.11%, now at $441.22.
• RSI readings suggest the stock is currently may be oversold.
• Anticipated earnings release is in 4 days.

What The Experts Say On UnitedHealth Group

5 market experts have recently issued ratings for this stock, with a consensus target price of $542.6.

• In a cautious move, an analyst from Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded its rating to Overweight, setting a price target of $591.
• Maintaining their stance, an analyst from TD Cowen continues to hold a Buy rating for UnitedHealth Group, targeting a price of $546.
• An analyst from Cantor Fitzgerald has revised its rating downward to Overweight, adjusting the price target to $591.
• Maintaining their stance, an analyst from Wells Fargo continues to hold a Overweight rating for UnitedHealth Group, targeting a price of $525.
• In a positive move, an analyst from HSBC has upgraded their rating to Hold and adjusted the price target to $460.

Options are a riskier asset compared to just trading the stock, but they have higher profit potential. Serious options traders manage this risk by educating themselves daily, scaling in and out of trades, following more than one indicator, and following the markets closely.

If you want to stay updated on the latest options trades for UnitedHealth Group, Benzinga Pro gives you real-time options trades alerts.