UnitedHealth Stock Continues Climb on Triple Dose of Bull Notes

There is an unusual call-skew in the front three-months' series for UNH

Emma Duncan

Managing Editor

Dec 4, 2019 at 9:42 AM

Mere days off reporting its 2020 full-year forecast, UnitedHealth Group Inc (NYSE:UNH) is shifting higher this morning, after a fresh round of bull notes from brokerage firms. No fewer than three analysts have hiked their price target on the Dow name, including BMO Securities to $310, Credit Suisse to $320, and Piper Jaffray to $325. Coming into today, UNH's average 12-month price target stood at $297.68, already well above Tuesday's close. At last check, the blue chip was trading 0.5% higher at $278.20.

UNH has been climbing the charts in recent months, now up 11% year-to-date. The equity broke above the pressure of its 20-day moving average back in mid-October, and now sees this former line of resistance as a trendline of support. In fact, just last week the equity came within a chip-shot of marking a fresh annual high after touching intraday peak of $283 on Nov. 25.

Digging into options, the stock’s Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.67 ranks in the 7th percentile of its annual range. This shows that there is an unusual call-skew in the front three-months' series for UNH.

Lastly, UnitedHealth stock's Schaeffer's Volatility Scorecard (SVS) comes in at 93 out of 100. In other words, the security has consistently made bigger moves on the charts than its options premiums have priced in over the past year.

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