MFA Wealth Services Acquires New Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

MFA Wealth Services acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 1,011 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $512,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 152.4% during the third quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 53 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 132.1% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 65 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE UNH opened at $532.26 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $436.38 and a 1-year high of $630.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company has a market capitalization of $489.83 billion, a PE ratio of 34.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.62. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $542.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $563.54.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.83 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,302,065. The trade was a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on UNH shares. UBS Group reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $700.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $650.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $627.74.

UnitedHealth Group 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.