Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC Grows Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 14.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,343 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 550 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $2,197,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. Lewis Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Lewis Asset Management LLC now owns 1,318 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $666,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. BDF Gestion grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. BDF Gestion now owns 30,050 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $15,201,000 after buying an additional 2,002 shares in the last quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 106.9% during the 4th quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 16,075 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $8,733,000 after acquiring an additional 8,305 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Planning Group LLC grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Planning Group LLC now owns 10,215 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $5,168,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gries Financial LLC grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Gries Financial LLC now owns 1,791 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $906,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of UnitedHealth Group 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 completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,302,065. This trade represents a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on UNH. HSBC upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Truist Financial decreased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $700.00 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 given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 0.8 %

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $538.29 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $539.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $565.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $495.38 billion, a PE ratio of 34.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.62. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $436.38 and a 12-month high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.83 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 54.19%.

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.