Accelerate Investment Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Accelerate Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 65.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 809 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 321 shares during the quarter. Accelerate Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $409,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Delta Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Delta Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,650 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $965,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. First PREMIER Bank raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 274 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $160,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. Genesee Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Genesee Capital Advisors LLC now owns 990 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $579,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. Jmac Enterprises LLC raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Jmac Enterprises LLC now owns 823 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $481,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. Finally, Matrix Private Capital Group LLC raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Matrix Private Capital Group LLC now owns 542 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $276,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

UNH stock traded up $23.97 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $544.66. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,051,743 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,160,355. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $630.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $555.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $562.50. The stock has a market cap of $501.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.48, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.62.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.00 by $0.15. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The firm had revenue of $100.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.56 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 54.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on UNH. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. TD Cowen raised their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Stephens raised their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $626.79.

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.