UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Purchased by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 72.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,789 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 6,202 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $7,481,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Chemistry Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Chemistry Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,609 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $3,849,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. CNB Bank boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. CNB Bank now owns 4,870 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $2,464,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the period. Saxon Interests Inc. boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 49.4% during the 4th quarter. Saxon Interests Inc. now owns 3,437 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $1,738,000 after acquiring an additional 1,136 shares during the period. Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth about $40,861,000. Finally, Procyon Advisors LLC boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 23,701 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $11,989,000 after buying an additional 2,780 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday. HSBC upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $595.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $627.74.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock traded down $0.56 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $510.03. 7,462,712 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,104,531. The firm has a market capitalization of $469.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a fifty day moving average of $549.37 and a 200-day moving average of $563.18. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52-week low of $436.38 and a 52-week high of $630.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 26.37%. The company had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.83 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were given a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.72%.

UnitedHealth Group Company 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.