UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH Shares Purchased by Harvest Portfolios Group Inc.

Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 27.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 192,737 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 42,043 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group comprises 1.4% of Harvest Portfolios Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $60,128,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in UNH. Bayforest Capital Ltd increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 685.7% in the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 55 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 416.7% during the first quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 62 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 80.9% in the 2nd quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 123 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Kentucky Trust Co raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 53.8% during the 2nd quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 143 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Nova Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 339.1% in the first quarter. Nova Wealth Management Inc. now owns 101 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $406.00 price target for the company. Leerink Partners set a $410.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $335.00 to $338.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $433.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $352.00 to $386.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $397.12.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 1.8%

UNH opened at $321.68 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $345.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $324.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $291.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.79, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.47. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $234.60 and a 12 month high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $2.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.87 by $0.05. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 4.04% and a return on equity of 19.23%. The firm had revenue of $113.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $113.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $7.15 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a $2.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.14%.

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.