Independence Bank of Kentucky Acquires 81 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Independence Bank of Kentucky raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 10,675 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group makes up approximately 0.8% of Independence Bank of Kentucky’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Independence Bank of Kentucky’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $5,400,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 132.1% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 65 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 88.0% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 258,833 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $151,374,000 after purchasing an additional 121,180 shares during the period. Czech National Bank lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 188,110 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $109,984,000 after purchasing an additional 12,721 shares during the period. Unique Wealth LLC increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 6.0% during the third quarter. Unique Wealth LLC now owns 3,427 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,003,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the period. Finally, Wiser Wealth Management Inc purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter worth $246,000. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $629.32.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,302,065. This trade represents a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE UNH opened at $542.30 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $536.17 and a 200 day moving average of $565.14. The company has a market capitalization of $499.07 billion, a PE ratio of 34.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.62. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $630.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. UnitedHealth Group’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.83 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.64 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.