Strong Tower Advisory Services Boosts Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Strong Tower Advisory Services increased its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 19,062 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 482 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group accounts for approximately 2.5% of Strong Tower Advisory Services’ holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Strong Tower Advisory Services’ holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $9,643,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 5.7% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 65,860 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $33,540,000 after acquiring an additional 3,525 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 3.4% in the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 700,864 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $356,922,000 after buying an additional 23,129 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 245,171 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $124,856,000 after acquiring an additional 17,861 shares during the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 61,354.2% in the second quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 14,749 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $7,511,000 after purchasing an additional 14,725 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 12.0% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,797,607 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $915,449,000 after buying an additional 192,128 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of UNH opened at $510.03 on Monday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $549.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $563.18. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $630.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $469.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.62.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 26.37%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.83 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is presently 54.72%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on UNH shares. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $700.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $627.74.

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.