Evernest Financial Advisors LLC Increases Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Evernest Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,559 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the quarter. Evernest Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,800,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Delta Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Delta Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,650 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $965,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. First PREMIER Bank raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 274 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $160,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Genesee Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.9% during the third quarter. Genesee Capital Advisors LLC now owns 990 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $579,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Jmac Enterprises LLC lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Jmac Enterprises LLC now owns 823 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $481,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Powers Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 4.8% in the third quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC now owns 418 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $244,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on UNH shares. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group cut their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, HSBC raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

UNH opened at $545.29 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $538.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $565.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $501.82 billion, a PE ratio of 35.18, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $436.38 and a twelve month high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The business’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.83 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 54.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $511.57 per share, with a total value 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 $2,302,065. This trade represents a 28.57 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.