UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Acquired by Redwood Investment Management LLC

Redwood Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 73.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,376 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the quarter. Redwood Investment Management LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $696,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth $6,375,744,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth $1,914,740,000. Amundi increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,991,470 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,886,186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,503,671 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,807,527,000 after buying an additional 1,058,488 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on UNH shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $563.00 to $374.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $355.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $677.00 to $351.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $486.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, CFO John F. Rex purchased 17,175 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $291.12 per share, with a total value of $4,999,986.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 203,796 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,329,091.52. The trade was a 9.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kristen Gil acquired 3,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were bought at an average price of $271.17 per share, for a total transaction of $1,003,329.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 3,818 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,035,327.06. This trade represents a 3,135.59% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders acquired 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

UNH stock opened at $291.24 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $264.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.79, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $470.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $513.95. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $248.88 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 the consensus estimate of $7.29 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $6.91 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 35.18%.

UnitedHealth Group 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.