Northwest Investment Counselors LLC Buys New Stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 383 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $224,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Delta Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Delta Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,650 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $965,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the period. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 40.0% in the second quarter. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC now owns 63 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Saxony Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Saxony Capital Management LLC now owns 530 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $270,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. GoalVest Advisory LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% during the second quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 3,124 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,591,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Finally, Fiduciary Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.5% in the second quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC now owns 3,695 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,882,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on UNH. Stephens decreased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $632.00 to $605.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America cut their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $560.00 to $604.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $625.00 price objective (down from $640.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $615.58.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNH traded up $4.15 during trading on Monday, reaching $573.76. The company had a trading volume of 1,761,443 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,955,627. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $584.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $534.68. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $608.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $529.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.58.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.00 by $0.15. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 26.37%. The business had revenue of $100.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $6.56 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.72%.

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.