BCS Wealth Management Acquires 485 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

BCS Wealth Management boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 42.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,623 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 485 shares during the period. BCS Wealth Management’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $850,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of UNH. NewSquare Capital LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,533 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $320.80 per share, for a total transaction of $491,786.40. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 6,033 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,935,386.40. This trade represents a 34.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John H. Noseworthy bought 300 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $312.16 per share, with a total value of $93,648.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,892,626.08. This trade represents a 5.21% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased a total of 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768 in the last 90 days. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of UNH stock opened at $303.24 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $248.88 and a 1-year high of $630.73. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $409.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $483.40. 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 firm has a market cap of $275.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.44.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released 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). The firm had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 last year, the business earned $6.91 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $2.21 dividend. This is a positive change from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.02%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UNH has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $405.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. TD Securities reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $308.00 price target (down previously from $520.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $510.00 to $356.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $428.43.

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.