Capital Investment Advisors LLC Buys 2,582 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 11.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,296 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,582 shares during the quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $12,796,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake 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 buying an additional 5,290,025 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the second quarter worth $480,903,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 30.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,816,254 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,942,956,000 after purchasing an additional 880,183 shares in the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 9,235.4% during the 3rd quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 784,924 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $458,929,000 after acquiring an additional 776,516 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 33.1% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,361,396 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,380,661,000 after acquiring an additional 587,088 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays lifted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $603.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. HSBC raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $626.79.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNH traded up $22.07 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $542.76. The company had a trading volume of 2,789,927 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,940,650. The firm has a market cap of $499.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.36, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.62. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $555.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $562.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $436.38 and a one year high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $100.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.56 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 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.