3,018 Shares in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Purchased by PFW Advisors LLC

PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 3,018 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $1,527,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. Marion Wealth Management boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Marion Wealth Management now owns 5,261 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $2,661,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the period. Courier Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Courier Capital LLC now owns 4,193 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $2,121,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Sunflower Bank N.A. increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 1,743 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $882,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the period. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 43.7% during the 4th quarter. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,151 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $582,000 after buying an additional 350 shares during the period. Finally, Persium Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth $499,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on UNH. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $591.00 to $644.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. KeyCorp started coverage on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $675.00 price objective for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Bank of America lowered their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $626.79.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNH opened at $541.28 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $554.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $562.88. The company has a market cap of $498.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.26, a PEG ratio of 1.53 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 Incorporated has a one year low of $436.38 and a one year high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.00 by $0.15. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 26.37%. The business had revenue of $100.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $6.56 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.55%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.72%.

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.