Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Raises Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,092 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 668 shares during the quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $8,646,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of UNH. M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 220,590 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $128,975,000 after acquiring an additional 26,074 shares during the period. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 17.6% during the fourth quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,957 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,025,000 after purchasing an additional 1,193 shares in the last quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter valued at about $21,165,000. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 9,115 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,611,000 after acquiring an additional 1,051 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Waycross Partners LLC grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Waycross Partners LLC now owns 27,794 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $14,060,000 after acquiring an additional 658 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,302,065. The trade was a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $700.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

UNH stock opened at $522.97 on Wednesday. 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 Incorporated has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $630.73. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $509.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $542.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $478.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.74, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its earnings results 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 net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The firm had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.83 EPS. UnitedHealth Group’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 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.