UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH Shares Purchased by Howard Capital Management Inc.

Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 6.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,284 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 418 shares during the quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $2,272,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Bayforest Capital Ltd boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 685.7% during the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 55 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 416.7% during the 1st quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 62 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 80.9% during the 2nd quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 123 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Kentucky Trust Co boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 53.8% during the 2nd quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 143 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, O Brien Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 74.0% during the 1st quarter. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC now owns 87 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on UNH. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $325.00 to $395.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $379.00 to $433.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $355.00 to $286.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $267.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $389.29.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UNH stock opened at $368.74 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $340.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $332.70. The stock has a market cap of $333.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.98, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.47. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $234.60 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $2.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.87 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $113.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $113.19 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 23.32% and a net margin of 5.04%.The firm’s revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $7.15 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were given a dividend of $2.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 38.30%.

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.