Operose Advisors LLC Acquires 447 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Operose Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 39.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,573 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 447 shares during the quarter. Operose Advisors LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $796,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. NewSquare Capital LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the acquisition, 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 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 currently owned by company insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNH opened at $586.23 on Tuesday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $438.50 and a one year high of $630.73. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $513.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $541.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $536.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.82, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.83 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on UNH shares. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $700.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. HSBC raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Twenty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $632.85.

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.