Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. Buys 50 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,074 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the quarter. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $565,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 100,076.4% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,823,820 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $6,268,753,000 after purchasing an additional 11,812,017 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,210,004,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1,682.4% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,691,542 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,372,606,000 after purchasing an additional 2,540,538 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 53,573.1% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,352,490 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,238,515,000 after purchasing an additional 2,348,107 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 143.4% during the 2nd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,494,100 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,679,401,000 after acquiring an additional 2,058,829 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of UNH traded up $7.95 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $501.13. 6,618,600 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,233,813. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $436.38 and a 52 week high of $554.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company’s 50 day moving average is $488.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $515.13. The company has a market capitalization of $462.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.64, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.54.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.63 by $0.28. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.50% and a net margin of 4.05%. The company had revenue of $99.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.26 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.74 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a $1.88 dividend. This represents a $7.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.97%.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total value of $451,127.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,289 shares in the company, valued at $16,977,233.31. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total transaction of $597,581.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,364 shares in the company, valued at $4,527,306.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total value of $451,127.82. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,977,233.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on UNH. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $591.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. StockNews.com cut UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $566.00 to $571.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $596.00 to $555.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $570.05.

About UnitedHealth Group

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.