UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Acquired by Mission Wealth Management LP

Mission Wealth Management LP raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,383 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 835 shares during the period. Mission Wealth Management LP’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $10,817,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,540,102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $26,626,387,000 after purchasing an additional 563,554 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,636,704 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $11,440,133,000 after acquiring an additional 318,039 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,061,916 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,884,019,000 after purchasing an additional 193,800 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,931,478 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,012,218,000 after purchasing an additional 36,394 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,434,467 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,737,360,000 after buying an additional 237,300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on UNH shares. Barclays dropped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. 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. HSBC raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $700.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $474.95 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $516.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $556.89. The stock has a market cap of $437.09 billion, a PE ratio of 30.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $436.38 and a 52 week high of $630.73.

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

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.19%.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,302,065. This trade represents a 28.57 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.