UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Bought by First Bank & Trust

First Bank & Trust increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 9.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,263 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the quarter. First Bank & Trust’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $738,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Macroview Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 671.4% in the 2nd quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 54 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 757.1% during the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 60 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the second quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 152.4% during the third quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 53 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on UNH. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. KeyCorp began coverage on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $675.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays lowered their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $604.00 to $603.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $615.53.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 0.7 %

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $564.56 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $436.38 and a 12-month high of $608.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $521.33 billion, a PE ratio of 36.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $583.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $537.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.00 by $0.15. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 26.37%. The company had revenue of $100.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $6.56 EPS. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

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

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.