Madison Investment Advisors LLC Invests $19.03 Million in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 37,613 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock, valued at approximately $19,027,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. NewSquare Capital LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

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UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of UNH traded up $7.00 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $488.52. 3,912,171 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,901,614. 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 firm has a market cap of $446.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52-week low of $436.38 and a 52-week high of $630.73. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $511.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $550.07.

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

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UNH has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $700.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. HSBC upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $595.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus 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.