Aurora Private Wealth Inc. Invests $8.82 Million in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Aurora Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 16,836 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $8,818,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in UNH. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,956,219 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $10,068,869,000 after purchasing an additional 319,515 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,616,007 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $7,899,905,000 after acquiring an additional 906,365 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,375,744,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 12.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,923,770 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,514,178,000 after acquiring an additional 861,854 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research dropped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $501.00 to $390.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. HSBC reaffirmed a “reduce” rating and set a $270.00 price objective (down from $490.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Baird R W downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $308.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, May 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $427.09.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John H. Noseworthy purchased 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $312.16 per share, for a total transaction of $93,648.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 6,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,892,626.08. This represents a 5.21% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,533 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were bought at an average price of $320.80 per share, for a total transaction of $491,786.40. Following the purchase, the director now 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 1.6%

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $305.59 on Wednesday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $248.88 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $277.21 billion, a PE ratio of 12.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.44. The company’s 50-day moving average is $347.89 and its 200-day moving average is $459.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.29 by ($0.09). UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 5.39% and a return on equity of 26.29%. The business had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $6.91 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $2.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. This is a positive change from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is 37.02%.

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.