Evanson Asset Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Evanson Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 23.0% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 797 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the quarter. Evanson Asset Management LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $417,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. NewSquare Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,533 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were acquired at an average cost 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 $1,935,386.40. This trade represents a 34.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kristen Gil bought 3,700 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $271.17 per share, for a total transaction of $1,003,329.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 3,818 shares in the company, valued at $1,035,327.06. This represents a 3,135.59% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768. 0.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of UNH opened at $306.90 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $248.88 and a twelve month high of $630.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $278.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.85, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.44. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $365.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $465.88.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.29% and a net margin of 5.39%. During the same period last year, the business posted $6.91 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $2.21 dividend. This is an increase from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UNH has been the subject of several research reports. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $360.00 price objective (down from $580.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Bank of America lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $560.00 to $350.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $552.00 to $353.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Barclays dropped their target price on UnitedHealth Group to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $426.52.

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.