Whitford Management LLC Purchases 10,950 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Whitford Management LLC raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 141.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 18,675 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 10,950 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group comprises approximately 2.5% of Whitford Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Whitford Management LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $9,447,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. NewSquare Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley bought 86,700 shares of the business’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 acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 679,493 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,081,295.01. This trade represents a 14.63% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John H. Noseworthy acquired 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $312.16 per share, with a total value of $93,648.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,063 shares in the company, valued at $1,892,626.08. This represents a 5.21% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on UNH. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $513.00 to $362.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Bank of America downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $560.00 to $350.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Argus downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. KeyCorp lowered their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $575.00 to $450.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $454.23.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 8.2%

NYSE UNH opened at $315.80 on Tuesday. 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 52 week low of $248.88 and a 52 week high of $630.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $286.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $467.51 and a 200-day moving average of $511.49.

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

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.18%.

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.