Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Grows Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 25.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,040,985 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 212,785 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $526,593,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $341,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,778,636 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,039,933,000 after buying an additional 180,479 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter worth $1,763,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 7.8% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 625,411 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $365,665,000 after acquiring an additional 45,195 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on UNH. 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. Barclays lowered their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $650.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Stephens increased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, 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 research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given 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

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,302,065. This represents a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $515.89 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52-week low of $436.38 and a 52-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 company has a market capitalization of $471.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $508.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $545.16.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.83 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.63%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.19%.

UnitedHealth Group 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.