Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. Boosts Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 108.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,202 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,860 shares during the quarter. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $7,013,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of UNH. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,956,219 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $10,068,869,000 after acquiring an additional 319,515 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,616,007 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $7,899,905,000 after purchasing an additional 906,365 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth $6,375,744,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,503,671 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,807,527,000 after buying an additional 1,058,488 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,923,770 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,514,178,000 after acquiring an additional 861,854 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

UNH stock opened at $291.24 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $264.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $248.88 and a 1 year high of $630.73. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $470.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $513.60.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.29 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 last year, the company earned $6.91 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.88%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,533 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $320.80 per share, for a total transaction of $491,786.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,935,386.40. This trade represents a 34.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John H. Noseworthy bought 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $312.16 per share, with a total value of $93,648.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 6,063 shares in the company, valued at $1,892,626.08. This trade represents a 5.21% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders purchased 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNH has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $677.00 to $351.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Raymond James cut UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $510.00 to $356.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $515.00 to $350.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $486.00.

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.