Wealth Alliance Boosts Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Wealth Alliance boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,548 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $2,825,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Swedbank AB bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the first quarter valued at $1,117,462,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 107.8% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,306,729 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,141,113,000 after purchasing an additional 1,196,758 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 30.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,816,254 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,942,956,000 after purchasing an additional 880,183 shares during the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1,125.4% during the second quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 894,006 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $455,281,000 after purchasing an additional 821,050 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3,464.9% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 825,311 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $434,501,000 after acquiring an additional 802,160 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on UNH. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $546.00 to $601.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $597.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $546.00 to $559.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $614.17.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 1.9 %

NYSE UNH opened at $577.89 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market cap of $531.88 billion, a PE ratio of 35.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $572.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $519.00. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $436.38 and a 52 week high of $607.94.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.66 by $0.14. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.66% and a return on equity of 26.55%. The business had revenue of $98.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $98.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $6.14 EPS. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 51.34%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 2,851 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $569.88, for a total value of $1,624,727.88. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,812,029.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $579.03, for a total transaction of $868,545.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,507,748.55. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 2,851 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $569.88, for a total transaction of $1,624,727.88. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,501 shares in the company, valued at $16,812,029.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.