Aspen Wealth Strategies LLC Grows Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Aspen Wealth Strategies LLC boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,775 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group makes up approximately 0.6% of Aspen Wealth Strategies LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Aspen Wealth Strategies LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $898,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth $1,914,740,000. Amundi increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 97.2% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 6,069,100 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,183,132,000 after purchasing an additional 2,991,470 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 76,830.4% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,888,641 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $955,388,000 after purchasing an additional 1,886,186 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 129.7% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,029,540 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $601,951,000 after purchasing an additional 581,324 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.3% during the third 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $499.01 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83. The company has a market cap of $456.45 billion, a PE ratio of 32.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $511.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $549.15. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 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 firm had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.83 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UNH has been the topic of several research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays cut their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. HSBC upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $700.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. 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 report on Thursday, December 5th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $629.32.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,302,065. The trade was a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.