UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Bought by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 34.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 14,013 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 3,584 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $7,089,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 152.4% in the third quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 53 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter worth about $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,302,065. The trade was a 28.57 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of UNH stock opened at $532.26 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $489.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $541.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $564.34. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.83 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.74 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. 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. Finally, HSBC raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $627.74.

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.