Atala Financial Inc Makes New Investment in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,072 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $542,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. State Street Corp raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,540,102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $26,626,387,000 after buying an additional 563,554 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,636,704 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $11,440,133,000 after purchasing an additional 318,039 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,061,916 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,884,019,000 after buying an additional 193,800 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,931,478 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,012,218,000 after acquiring an additional 36,394 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,223,331 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,148,134,000 after purchasing an additional 182,361 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on UNH shares. HSBC upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $629.32.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now 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 purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:UNH opened at $480.79 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $439.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.02, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $511.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $551.01. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $436.38 and a 12-month high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its earnings results 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. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The business had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.83 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.75%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 54.19%.

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.