Valley National Advisers Inc. Has $570,000 Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 5.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,127 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $570,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 132.1% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 65 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

NYSE:UNH opened at $542.30 on Monday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $436.38 and a 12 month high of $630.73. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $536.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $565.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market cap of $499.07 billion, a PE ratio of 34.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.61.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.83 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were given a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the transaction, 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 purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. HSBC upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $650.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target 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.