Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC Boosts Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 11.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,226 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 126 shares during the quarter. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $620,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of UNH. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth about $6,375,744,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth about $1,914,740,000. Amundi raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 97.2% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 6,069,100 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,183,132,000 after purchasing an additional 2,991,470 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 76,830.4% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,888,641 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $955,388,000 after purchasing an additional 1,886,186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,503,671 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,807,527,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058,488 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $291.24 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $248.88 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $264.20 billion, a PE ratio of 18.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $470.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $513.25.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.29 by ($0.09). The firm 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 period last year, the firm earned $6.91 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley bought 86,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $288.57 per share, for a total transaction of $25,019,019.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 679,493 shares in the company, valued at $196,081,295.01. This trade represents a 14.63% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,533 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was bought at an average price of $320.80 per share, for a total transaction of $491,786.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,935,386.40. This represents a 34.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $515.00 to $350.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $355.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Barclays decreased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $513.00 to $362.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, HSBC reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $490.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $486.00.

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.