Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC Has $9.03 Million Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC lessened its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 17,847 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 32 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group accounts for 2.5% of Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest position. Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $9,028,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of UNH. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 76,830.4% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,888,641 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $955,388,000 after purchasing an additional 1,886,186 shares during the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 9,235.4% during the third quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 784,924 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $458,929,000 after buying an additional 776,516 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 129.7% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,029,540 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $601,951,000 after acquiring an additional 581,324 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,540,102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $26,626,387,000 after purchasing an additional 563,554 shares in the last quarter. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter worth $276,785,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,302,065. This represents a 28.57 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on UNH. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. HSBC raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays dropped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $474.58 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $436.74 billion, a PE ratio of 30.62, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $515.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $555.37. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $436.38 and a 1-year high of $630.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The company had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.83 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research 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 will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 54.19%.

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.