BG Investment Services Inc. Invests $804,000 in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

BG Investment Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 1,588 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $804,000. UnitedHealth Group comprises 0.8% of BG Investment Services Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 13.4% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 220,590 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $128,975,000 after purchasing an additional 26,074 shares during the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 17.6% during the fourth quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,957 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,025,000 after acquiring an additional 1,193 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1,275.3% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 44,547 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $26,060,000 after purchasing an additional 41,308 shares during the period. Parsifal Capital Management LP bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $21,165,000. Finally, Signal Advisors Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 9,115 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,611,000 after buying an additional 1,051 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on UNH. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $700.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, HSBC raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UNH opened at $513.58 on Wednesday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $436.38 and a one year high of $630.73. The stock has a market cap of $469.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $509.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $545.56.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.83 earnings per share. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 54.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,302,065. This trade represents a 28.57 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.