Precedent Wealth Partners LLC Buys 572 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Precedent Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 31.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,370 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 572 shares during the quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,241,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,956,219 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $10,068,869,000 after acquiring an additional 319,515 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 6.2% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at $6,375,744,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,058,488 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 10.7% in the fourth 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 during the period. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNH has been the subject of several recent research reports. Hsbc Global Res lowered UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Raymond James cut UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen cut UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Erste Group Bank cut UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, June 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $426.52.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

NYSE UNH opened at $313.39 on Monday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $248.88 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $284.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.22, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.44. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $386.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $472.32.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its 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 business had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $6.91 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $2.21 dividend. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.82%. This is a boost from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is presently 37.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,533 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $320.80 per share, with a total value of $491,786.40. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,033 shares in the company, valued at $1,935,386.40. This represents a 34.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John H. Noseworthy purchased 300 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $312.16 per share, for a total transaction of $93,648.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,892,626.08. This trade represents a 5.21% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768 in the last ninety days. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.