Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Grows Stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 85.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 336,466 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after buying an additional 154,565 shares during the quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $170,205,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Topsail Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth about $597,000. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 32,634 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $16,508,000 after purchasing an additional 1,369 shares in the last quarter. Van Den Berg Management I Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Van Den Berg Management I Inc. now owns 9,528 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $4,820,000 after buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 26,745 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $13,529,000 after acquiring an additional 2,917 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Burling Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth $4,740,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on UNH. StockNews.com upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $652.00 to $525.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $525.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and set a $700.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $603.05.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE UNH traded down $6.05 during trading on Friday, reaching $418.20. 9,255,934 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,482,211. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52-week low of $412.02 and a 52-week high of $630.73. The company has a 50-day moving average of $503.28 and a 200-day moving average of $534.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $380.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. 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 (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.29 by ($0.09). UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The business had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.56 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $6.91 EPS. Analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.18%.

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.