Homestead Advisers Corp Invests $28.43 Million in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Homestead Advisers Corp purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 56,200 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock, valued at approximately $28,429,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. M&T Bank Corp raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 220,590 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $128,975,000 after purchasing an additional 26,074 shares in the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 17.6% during the fourth quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,957 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $4,025,000 after buying an additional 1,193 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1,275.3% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 44,547 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $26,060,000 after acquiring an additional 41,308 shares in the last quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $21,165,000. Finally, Signal Advisors Wealth LLC grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 9,115 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $4,611,000 after purchasing an additional 1,051 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UNH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. HSBC raised UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $595.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, KeyCorp restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $650.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $629.32.

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UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UNH traded down $0.25 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $515.47. 2,378,211 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,268,981. The firm has a market cap of $471.51 billion, a PE ratio of 33.26, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $508.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $544.24. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $436.38 and a 12 month high of $630.73.

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

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 54.19%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,302,065. The trade was a 28.57 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

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.