Brighton Jones LLC Has $22.38 Million Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 176.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 44,249 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 28,231 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group makes up 0.6% of Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $22,384,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 152.4% during 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 last quarter. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 132.1% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 65 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UNH has been the subject of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Hsbc Global Res raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $700.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $627.74.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,302,065. This represents a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 1.8 %

NYSE UNH opened at $528.94 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company has a market capitalization of $486.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.12, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.62. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $436.38 and a 1-year high of $630.73. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $543.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $563.78.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The business’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.83 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is presently 54.19%.

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.