Jennison Associates LLC Increases Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 244,477 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,694 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $123,671,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. First PREMIER Bank lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 274 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $160,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Genesee Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Genesee Capital Advisors LLC now owns 990 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $579,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Jmac Enterprises LLC lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Jmac Enterprises LLC now owns 823 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $481,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 4.8% in the third quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC now owns 418 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $244,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wallace Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.9% in the third quarter. Wallace Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,119 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,239,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $548.65 on Tuesday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $504.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.40, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.61. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $536.17 and a 200 day moving average of $565.20.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.83 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.63 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 54.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on UNH. TD Cowen raised their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. HSBC raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $629.32.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.