Waldron Private Wealth LLC Raises Stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Waldron Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,045 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the period. Waldron Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $6,093,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 132.1% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 65 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on UNH. StockNews.com raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $629.32.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE UNH opened at $542.30 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $499.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.99, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.62. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $537.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $564.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $436.38 and a twelve month high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The firm had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.83 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.64 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.55%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.19%.

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.