Avantax Planning Partners Inc. Increases Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Avantax Planning Partners Inc. increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 6.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,935 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Avantax Planning Partners Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,991,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 220,590 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $128,975,000 after buying an additional 26,074 shares during the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 17.6% during the fourth quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,957 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,025,000 after buying an additional 1,193 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1,275.3% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 44,547 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $26,060,000 after buying an additional 41,308 shares in the last quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter worth approximately $21,165,000. Finally, Signal Advisors Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 9,115 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,611,000 after buying an additional 1,051 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $700.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Stephens raised their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $629.32.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,302,065. This trade represents a 28.57 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $486.54 on Wednesday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $512.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $552.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market cap 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.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share (EPS) 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 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 revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.83 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 54.19%.

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.