Wesbanco Bank Inc. Increases Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Wesbanco Bank Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 51,868 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,365 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group accounts for about 0.9% of Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $26,238,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of UNH. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 78,814.4% in the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 5,290,025 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the second quarter valued at $480,903,000. Accredited Investors Inc. grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 9,235.4% during the 3rd quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 784,924 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $458,929,000 after buying an additional 776,516 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 33.1% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,361,396 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,380,661,000 after acquiring an additional 587,088 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 129.7% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,029,540 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $601,951,000 after purchasing an additional 581,324 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $650.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Bank of America decreased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $627.74.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 1.1 %

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $519.08 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $477.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $436.38 and a 12 month high of $630.73. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $545.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $564.10.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $100.81 billion for 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%. The business’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.83 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.75 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,302,065. This represents a 28.57 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.