Headlands Technologies LLC Buys 6,563 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 295.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,785 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,563 shares during the quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $4,444,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NewSquare Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, DecisionPoint Financial LLC increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 155.0% during the 4th quarter. DecisionPoint Financial LLC now owns 102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 1.6 %

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $524.48 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $479.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.84, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $509.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $543.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The company had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.83 earnings per share. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 54.19%.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Hsbc Global Res raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $700.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $629.32.

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.