Ground Swell Capital LLC Increases Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Ground Swell Capital LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 64.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 614 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the quarter. Ground Swell Capital LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $311,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 17.6% during the fourth quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,957 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,025,000 after purchasing an additional 1,193 shares during the last quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 9,115 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,611,000 after buying an additional 1,051 shares in the last quarter. Waycross Partners LLC increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Waycross Partners LLC now owns 27,794 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $14,060,000 after acquiring an additional 658 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 199,536 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $100,937,000 after purchasing an additional 11,426 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lmcg Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC now owns 37,974 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $19,210,000 after purchasing an additional 4,022 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UNH opened at $380.72 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company has a market cap of $346.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a 50 day moving average of $488.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $522.60. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52-week low of $378.54 and a 52-week high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.29 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.91 EPS. On average, analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.21%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.18%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on UNH shares. Truist Financial dropped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $660.00 to $580.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $700.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $640.00 to $600.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $596.86.

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.