Northeast Financial Consultants Inc Raises Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Northeast Financial Consultants Inc boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,606 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the quarter. Northeast Financial Consultants Inc’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $5,365,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Persium Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $499,000. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 43.7% in the fourth quarter. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,151 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $582,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 1,743 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $882,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Courier Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Courier Capital LLC now owns 4,193 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,121,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marion Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Marion Wealth Management now owns 5,261 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,661,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on UNH. Argus downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Hsbc Global Res cut UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. StockNews.com raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $652.00 to $525.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $664.00 to $563.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $596.86.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 17.8%

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $311.23 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $282.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The business has a 50-day moving average of $482.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $519.28. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $309.10 and a 1 year high of $630.73.

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

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 35.18%.

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.