UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Position Raised by KLCM Advisors Inc.

KLCM Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 42.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,010 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,196 shares during the period. KLCM Advisors Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $2,111,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at $153,000. Guidance Capital Inc. increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Guidance Capital Inc. now owns 1,681 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $907,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Sfmg LLC increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 1,464 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $771,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors now owns 2,091 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,101,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the period. Finally, Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. now owns 13,531 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $7,124,000 after acquiring an additional 1,220 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on UNH. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $610.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target 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. Barclays began coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $551.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $596.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $573.80.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UNH stock traded up $23.26 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $468.89. The company had a trading volume of 11,816,517 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,248,641. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The company has a market cap of $432.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $490.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $515.63. 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 data on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.54 by $0.37. The company had revenue of $99.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.23 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.39% and a net margin of 6.02%. The business’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.26 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $1.88 per share. This represents a $7.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.54%.

Insider Activity

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 transaction of $451,127.82. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,977,233.31. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 32,289 shares in the company, valued at $16,977,233.31. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total value of $597,581.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now 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. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

UnitedHealth Group 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.