1,749 Shares in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Purchased by Chiron Investment Management LLC

Chiron Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 1,749 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $885,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth $35,393,000. Dagco Inc. acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth about $480,000. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth about $18,005,000. Defined Financial Planning LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $544,000. Finally, LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 33.0% in the 4th quarter. LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,209 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,117,000 after purchasing an additional 548 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $700.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $650.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, HSBC upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Twenty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $632.85.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of UNH stock opened at $599.10 on Monday. 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 capitalization of $548.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $512.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $541.80. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $438.50 and a 1 year high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.83 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 54.19%.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were purchased 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 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 position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.