Evolution Wealth Advisors LLC Takes Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Evolution Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 386 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,220,234 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $12,715,790,000 after purchasing an additional 527,526 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 15,635,038 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $8,289,386,000 after acquiring an additional 1,893,192 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 100,076.4% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,823,820 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $6,268,753,000 after acquiring an additional 11,812,017 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 11,749,819 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $5,647,433,000 after acquiring an additional 399,739 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth about $5,210,004,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

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

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

NYSE:UNH traded up $8.11 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $501.29. 6,616,632 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,553,088. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52-week low of $436.38 and a 52-week high of $554.70. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $488.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $515.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company has a market cap of $462.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.54.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.63 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $99.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.23 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.50% and a net margin of 4.05%. The business’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $6.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were issued a $1.88 dividend. This represents a $7.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on UNH. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $618.00 to $584.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $545.00 to $562.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $525.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com cut UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $607.00 to $546.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $570.05.

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.