Agate Pass Investment Management LLC Purchases 125 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Agate Pass Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 8.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,629 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Agate Pass Investment Management LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $824,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,540,102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $26,626,387,000 after buying an additional 563,554 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% in the third 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 last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew 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 last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 78,814.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,296,737 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,096,896,000 after purchasing an additional 5,290,025 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 30.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,816,254 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,942,956,000 after buying an additional 880,183 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on UNH shares. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $591.00 to $644.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $626.79.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 4.5 %

Shares of NYSE:UNH traded up $23.38 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $544.07. 3,077,236 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,030,992. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $555.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $562.50. The firm has a market cap of $500.70 billion, a PE ratio of 35.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73.

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

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is 54.72%.

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.