Fortis Capital Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Fortis Capital Management LLC raised its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 6.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,480 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 560 shares during the quarter. Fortis Capital Management LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $4,796,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $157,543,000. Umpqua Bank boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 5,902 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,209,000 after purchasing an additional 461 shares in the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 27.4% during the fourth quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 744 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $376,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Sfmg LLC boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 21.7% during the fourth quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 1,871 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $946,000 after acquiring an additional 334 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intellus Advisors LLC bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth about $824,000. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on UNH. HSBC raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $700.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $629.32.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,302,065. The trade was a 28.57 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of UNH stock opened at $517.72 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $436.38 and a 12 month high of $630.73. The stock has a market cap of $473.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $510.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $547.11.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced 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 business had revenue of $100.81 billion during 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.83 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.62%. 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.