Proficio Capital Partners LLC Grows Stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 2.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,597 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 74 shares during the quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,779,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 83,860,515 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $44,150,045,000 after buying an additional 250,291 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,220,234 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $12,715,790,000 after purchasing an additional 527,526 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 15,122,203 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $7,961,369,000 after buying an additional 324,733 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,860,985 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,244,158,000 after buying an additional 542,424 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at $5,802,231,000. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:UNH traded up $2.78 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $492.12. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,056,843 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,255,447. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $554.70. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $498.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $500.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $452.94 billion, a PE ratio of 30.08, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.60.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.63 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $99.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.23 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 4.05% and a return on equity of 26.50%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.26 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.55 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 17th were issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 17th. This is an increase from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.88. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UNH has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $545.00 to $562.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Robert W. Baird began coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $597.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Baird R W raised UnitedHealth Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $579.74.

UnitedHealth Group Company 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.