Wedbush Securities Inc. Has $12.84 Million Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Wedbush Securities Inc. raised its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 28.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,372 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 5,625 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc.'s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $12,835,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,956,219 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $10,068,869,000 after purchasing an additional 319,515 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,375,744,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,923,770 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $4,514,178,000 after acquiring an additional 861,854 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.5% during the 4th 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 period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,223,331 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $3,148,134,000 after purchasing an additional 182,361 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company's stock.

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Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,302,065. This trade represents a 28.57 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the company. Barclays reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $700.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Twenty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $630.35.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 3.6 %

UnitedHealth Group stock traded up $19.94 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $573.02. 5,019,510 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,301,415. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $509.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $541.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market cap of $524.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 company had revenue of $100.81 billion for 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.83 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.