UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Bought by Francis Financial Inc.

Francis Financial Inc. boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 47.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 932 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the quarter. Francis Financial Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $471,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NewSquare Capital LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $640.00 to $600.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $650.00 to $575.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $525.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, HSBC restated a “hold” rating and issued a $490.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $596.86.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

NYSE UNH opened at $380.72 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $346.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56. The business has a fifty day moving average of $488.01 and a 200-day moving average of $522.60. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $378.54 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.29 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $6.91 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 35.18%.

UnitedHealth Group Company 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.