Veracity Capital LLC Buys 63 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Veracity Capital LLC boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,170 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Veracity Capital LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $684,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 84,405,255 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $41,755,280,000 after purchasing an additional 544,740 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,062,928 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $12,893,331,000 after purchasing an additional 94,641 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,039,601 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,094,247,000 after purchasing an additional 35,533 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 30.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,816,254 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,942,956,000 after acquiring an additional 880,183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,772,487 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,920,039,000 after acquiring an additional 21,149 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UNH stock opened at $569.61 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $436.38 and a one year high of $608.63. The company’s 50-day moving average is $584.42 and its 200 day moving average is $534.15. The company has a market capitalization of $524.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.00 by $0.15. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.66% and a return on equity of 26.55%. The company had revenue of $100.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $6.56 EPS. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is presently 51.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on UNH. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $597.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $591.00 to $644.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Stephens lowered their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $632.00 to $605.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $615.58.

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.