Triangle Securities Wealth Management Grows Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Triangle Securities Wealth Management increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 18.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,887 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after acquiring an additional 767 shares during the quarter. Triangle Securities Wealth Management's holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $2,472,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 51,986 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $26,298,000 after purchasing an additional 1,029 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 38,993 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $19,725,000 after acquiring an additional 3,268 shares in the last quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 69,016 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $34,912,000 after purchasing an additional 2,272 shares in the last quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 408 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $206,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Finally, Verity & Verity LLC lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 36.9% in the 4th quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 2,052 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $1,038,000 after buying an additional 553 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 0.1 %

UNH stock traded down $0.56 on Friday, hitting $510.03. 7,462,712 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,104,531. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $436.38 and a twelve month high of $630.73. The business's fifty day moving average is $549.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $563.18. The stock 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.83 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.6 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders 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 of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group's payout ratio is currently 54.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com cut UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday. KeyCorp reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $650.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $627.74.

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.