UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Holdings Lifted by Ashburton Jersey Ltd

Ashburton Jersey Ltd lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 4,457.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,762 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 12,482 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group accounts for 2.8% of Ashburton Jersey Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Ashburton Jersey Ltd's holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $6,456,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $6,375,744,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at $1,914,740,000. Amundi increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 97.2% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 6,069,100 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $3,183,132,000 after buying an additional 2,991,470 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 76,830.4% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,888,641 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $955,388,000 after buying an additional 1,886,186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,923,770 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $4,514,178,000 after acquiring an additional 861,854 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,302,065. This represents a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on UNH. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $700.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. HSBC raised UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $595.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com raised UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. KeyCorp reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $650.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $629.32.

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UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 2.9 %

NYSE UNH opened at $524.94 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $509.24 and a 200-day moving average of $542.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $480.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.87, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.83 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group's payout ratio is 54.19%.

UnitedHealth Group 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.

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