Farringdon Capital Ltd. Makes New $1.76 Million Investment in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Farringdon Capital Ltd. bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,475 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock, valued at approximately $1,758,000. UnitedHealth Group accounts for about 0.7% of Farringdon Capital Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Howard Capital Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $341,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 11.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,778,636 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $1,039,933,000 after purchasing an additional 180,479 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 13.4% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 220,590 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $128,975,000 after purchasing an additional 26,074 shares during the period. McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 635 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $371,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 3.7% in the third quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 1,275 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $746,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Hsbc Global Res upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $700.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com raised UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Twenty-one analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $632.85.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UNH traded down $128.94 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $456.10. The company had a trading volume of 29,048,929 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,373,443. 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 1-year low of $438.50 and a 1-year high of $630.73. The stock has a market cap of $417.20 billion, a PE ratio of 29.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $512.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $540.65.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.29 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $6.91 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.84%. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio is 54.19%.

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.