Wedmont Private Capital Has $6.66 Million Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Wedmont Private Capital raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,781 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 501 shares during the quarter. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $6,655,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of UNH. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 152.4% in the 3rd quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 53 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Quarry LP grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 132.1% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 65 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $591.00 to $644.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. KeyCorp began coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $675.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $626.79.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 4.4 %

NYSE:UNH traded up $23.07 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $543.76. 3,922,638 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,149,262. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $555.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $562.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $500.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.42, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.62. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

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

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.72%.

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.