Lynx Investment Advisory Grows Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Lynx Investment Advisory grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 880 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $514,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Macroview Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 671.4% during the 2nd quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 54 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 757.1% in the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 60 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised 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 valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on UNH. Jefferies Financial Group raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $481.00 to $647.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. HSBC lowered UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $604.00 to $603.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $615.53.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of UNH traded up $12.04 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $627.85. The stock had a trading volume of 726,123 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,891,217. The firm has a market cap of $577.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.12, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.91. The business has a fifty day moving average of $581.93 and a 200 day moving average of $545.85. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $436.38 and a 12 month high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.00 by $0.15. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The firm had revenue of $100.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $6.56 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.34%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.72%.

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.