UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Position Boosted by Carson Advisory Inc.

Carson Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 5.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,178 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the quarter. Carson Advisory Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $596,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,375,744,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at $1,914,740,000. Amundi boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 97.2% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 6,069,100 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,183,132,000 after buying an additional 2,991,470 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 76,830.4% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,888,641 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $955,388,000 after acquiring an additional 1,886,186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,923,770 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,514,178,000 after purchasing an additional 861,854 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on UNH shares. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays cut their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $650.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Twenty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $632.85.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of the business’s 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 directly owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,302,065. This represents a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

NYSE UNH opened at $599.10 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $548.00 billion, a PE ratio of 38.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $512.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $542.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $436.38 and a 12-month high of $630.73.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. The company 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%. The business’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.83 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 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.