Lpwm LLC Purchases 1,742 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Lpwm LLC lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 201.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,608 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,742 shares during the quarter. Lpwm LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,366,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in UNH. Norges Bank bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,375,744,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 56,142.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,295,153 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,344,586,000 after buying an additional 8,280,404 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,914,740,000. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 97.2% during 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. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 36.6% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,592,718 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,346,712,000 after purchasing an additional 2,301,010 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on UNH. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $521.00 to $362.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $355.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 16th. Raymond James downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $428.43.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 2.5%

NYSE:UNH opened at $303.24 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $409.03 and a 200 day moving average of $483.40. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $248.88 and a 52 week high of $630.73. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $275.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.44.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 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 firm had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $6.91 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $2.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This is a positive change from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is 37.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Kristen Gil bought 3,700 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $271.17 per share, with a total value of $1,003,329.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,035,327.06. This represents a 3,135.59% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley bought 86,700 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was acquired 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 directly owns 679,493 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,081,295.01. This trade represents a 14.63% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders purchased 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Company 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.