Wealthspire Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Wealthspire Advisors LLC increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,515 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 222 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $6,589,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 53,573.1% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,352,490 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,238,515,000 after purchasing an additional 2,348,107 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 49.3% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,617,813 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,904,670,000 after buying an additional 1,195,352 shares during the last quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 75.0% during the third quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 2,011,150 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,014,002,000 after buying an additional 862,024 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 35.9% during the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 3,090,986 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,627,311,000 after buying an additional 815,822 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 20.1% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,725,650 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,879,245,000 after buying an additional 623,631 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of UNH traded up $2.25 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $503.21. The company had a trading volume of 2,922,430 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,362,104. The company has a market capitalization of $462.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.55. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $436.38 and a 52 week high of $554.70. 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 50-day moving average price of $481.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $511.98.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.63 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $99.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.23 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.50% and a net margin of 4.05%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $6.26 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.6 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $1.88 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $7.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.49%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $525.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $610.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $596.00 to $555.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $618.00 to $584.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, HSBC upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $460.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $570.05.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,977,233.31. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of the 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 owns 32,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,977,233.31. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

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.