Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Purchases 1,681 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 33.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,682 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after acquiring an additional 1,681 shares during the quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $3,377,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth $6,375,744,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,914,740,000. Amundi raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 97.2% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 6,069,100 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $3,183,132,000 after buying an additional 2,991,470 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 76,830.4% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,888,641 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $955,388,000 after acquiring an additional 1,886,186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,923,770 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $4,514,178,000 after purchasing an additional 861,854 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company's stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 3.4 %

Shares of UNH stock traded up $17.67 on Thursday, hitting $540.87. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,454,806 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,243,146. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $494.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $509.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $542.82. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73.

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UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The company had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.83 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. UnitedHealth Group's payout ratio is 54.19%.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,302,065. This trade represents a 28.57 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on UNH. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $610.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. HSBC upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $595.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report 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 MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $629.32.

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.