Empirical Finance LLC Acquires 692 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Empirical Finance LLC raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 2.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,223 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 692 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group makes up approximately 1.1% of Empirical Finance LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $18,840,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Delta Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Delta Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,650 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $965,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 40.0% in the second quarter. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC now owns 63 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Saxony Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 3.5% in the second quarter. Saxony Capital Management LLC now owns 530 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $270,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 3,124 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,591,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC now owns 3,695 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,882,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UNH stock opened at $593.15 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $436.38 and a 1-year high of $630.73. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $582.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $548.03. The company has a market capitalization of $545.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.00 by $0.15. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The company had revenue of $100.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $6.56 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 54.72%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. HSBC downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Stephens reduced their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $632.00 to $605.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $604.00 to $603.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $615.53.

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.