GLOBALT Investments LLC GA Grows Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

GLOBALT Investments LLC GA increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 45.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,793 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 5,890 shares during the period. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $9,507,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,540,102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $26,626,387,000 after purchasing an additional 563,554 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,636,704 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $11,440,133,000 after purchasing an additional 318,039 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,061,916 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,884,019,000 after purchasing an additional 193,800 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,931,478 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,012,218,000 after purchasing an additional 36,394 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.0% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,302,065. The trade was a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 1.5 %

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $488.52 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $446.85 billion, a PE ratio of 31.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $436.38 and a 12-month high of $630.73. 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 50 day simple moving average of $511.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $549.80.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.83 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.72%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. HSBC upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $629.32.

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.