Pillar Financial Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 80 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $40,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hudson Value Partners LLC raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 8.3% during the third quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 1,069 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $625,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Wealth Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 4.0% during the third quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 1,777 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,039,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter worth approximately $341,000. GSG Advisors LLC grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 14.4% during the third quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 746 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $435,000 after buying an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisor Resource Council bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter worth $308,000. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UNH opened at $493.35 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $513.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $553.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $630.73. The firm has a market cap of $451.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.83, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.83 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 54.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UNH has been the subject of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer upped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. HSBC upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. One investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $629.32.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was purchased 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 approximately $2,302,065. The trade was a 28.57 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.