Wellington Shields & Co. LLC Raises Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Wellington Shields & Co. LLC grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 17.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 241 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the quarter. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $122,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wallace Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wallace Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,119 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,239,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 902 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $456,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. MCF Advisors LLC grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 2,578 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,304,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC now owns 575 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, 44 Wealth Management LLC grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,309 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $662,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNH has been the topic of several analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Stephens increased their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $629.32.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,302,065. This trade represents a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $488.52 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $511.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $550.07. The company has a market capitalization of $446.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The firm had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.83 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.72%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.19%.

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.