UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Purchased by HWG Holdings LP

HWG Holdings LP increased its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 8.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 448 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. HWG Holdings LP’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $262,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 84,405,255 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $41,755,280,000 after buying an additional 544,740 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,062,928 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $12,893,331,000 after purchasing an additional 94,641 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,039,601 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,094,247,000 after buying an additional 35,533 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 78,814.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,296,737 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,096,896,000 after buying an additional 5,290,025 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 30.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,816,254 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,942,956,000 after acquiring an additional 880,183 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

NYSE:UNH opened at $564.56 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $521.33 billion, a PE ratio of 36.78, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $608.63. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $583.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $536.66.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.00 by $0.15. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The business had revenue of $100.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.56 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.49%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is 54.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UNH has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. HSBC downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $615.53.

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.