Xponance Inc. Purchases 8,226 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Xponance Inc. boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 201,906 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,226 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group accounts for 1.3% of Xponance Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $106,297,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kraft Davis & Associates LLC grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Kraft Davis & Associates LLC now owns 577 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $294,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,217 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $614,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. Secure Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 2,456 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,238,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Bensler LLC boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bensler LLC now owns 7,293 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,677,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX now owns 1,695 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $855,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UNH has been the topic of a number of research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $591.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $596.00 to $555.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. HSBC upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $460.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $534.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $610.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $569.68.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total transaction of $597,581.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,527,306.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total value of $451,127.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,977,233.31. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total transaction of $597,581.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,527,306.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UNH traded up $14.19 on Thursday, hitting $493.18. 8,835,223 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,503,498. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $454.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.54. The business’s fifty day moving average is $489.51 and its 200 day moving average is $515.38. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $554.70.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.63 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $99.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.23 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 4.05% and a return on equity of 26.50%. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $6.26 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.75 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a $1.88 dividend. This represents a $7.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.97%.

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.