River Road Asset Management LLC Increases Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

River Road Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 49.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 62,224 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 20,559 shares during the quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC's holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $31,477,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,540,102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $26,626,387,000 after acquiring an additional 563,554 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,636,704 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $11,440,133,000 after acquiring an additional 318,039 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,061,916 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $4,884,019,000 after purchasing an additional 193,800 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,931,478 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $4,012,218,000 after purchasing an additional 36,394 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,223,331 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $3,148,134,000 after purchasing an additional 182,361 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company's stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 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, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,302,065. The trade was a 28.57 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 1.3 %

NYSE UNH traded up $6.32 on Tuesday, reaching $486.54. The company had a trading volume of 4,100,487 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,993,668. The stock has a market capitalization of $445.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. The company's fifty day moving average is $512.82 and its 200 day moving average is $552.00. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52-week low of $436.38 and a 52-week high of $630.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. UnitedHealth Group's quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.83 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.73%. 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 several research reports. Stephens boosted their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. HSBC raised UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $595.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Barclays cut their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, KeyCorp restated an "overweight" rating and set a $650.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $629.32.

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.