Parthenon LLC Makes New $284,000 Investment in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Parthenon LLC bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 486 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $284,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in UNH. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 84,405,255 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $41,755,280,000 after acquiring an additional 544,740 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,062,928 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $12,893,331,000 after buying an additional 94,641 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,039,601 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,094,247,000 after acquiring an additional 35,533 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 78,814.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,296,737 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,096,896,000 after acquiring an additional 5,290,025 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 30.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,816,254 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,942,956,000 after purchasing an additional 880,183 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

NYSE UNH traded down $6.33 on Wednesday, reaching $608.34. The stock had a trading volume of 608,131 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,882,065. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $436.38 and a 1-year high of $630.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company has a market cap of $559.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $582.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $547.62.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $6.56 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 54.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UNH has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen boosted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $481.00 to $647.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays reduced their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $604.00 to $603.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $615.53.

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.