Virtue Capital Management LLC Has $957,000 Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Virtue Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 23.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,637 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 316 shares during the period. Virtue Capital Management LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $957,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Macroview Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 671.4% during the 2nd quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 54 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 152.4% during the 3rd quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 53 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 40.0% during the 2nd quarter. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC now owns 63 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $625.00 price objective (down previously from $640.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. KeyCorp started coverage on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, October 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $675.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $626.84.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UNH stock opened at $565.39 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The company has a market capitalization of $520.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $586.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $559.39. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $436.38 and a 52 week high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $100.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.14 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.56 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.72%.

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.