Disciplined Equity Management Inc. Buys 279 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Disciplined Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 14.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,254 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group comprises approximately 0.8% of Disciplined Equity Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Disciplined Equity Management Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,187,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Kraft Davis & Associates LLC lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 3.4% in the third quarter. Kraft Davis & Associates LLC now owns 577 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $294,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% in the third quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,217 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $614,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.8% in the third quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 2,456 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,238,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Bensler LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.3% during the third quarter. Bensler LLC now owns 7,293 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,677,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.1% during the third quarter. Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX now owns 1,695 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $855,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $596.00 to $555.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $610.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. StockNews.com cut UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $525.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, HSBC raised UnitedHealth Group from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $460.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $570.05.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total transaction of $597,581.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,527,306.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other UnitedHealth Group news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total value of $597,581.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,527,306.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total transaction of $451,127.82. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,977,233.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is owned by insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 0.2 %

UNH traded up $1.12 on Wednesday, hitting $487.30. The company had a trading volume of 3,722,296 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,532,990. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.79. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52-week low of $436.38 and a 52-week high of $554.70. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $486.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $514.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $449.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.54.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.63 by $0.28. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 4.05% and a return on equity of 26.50%. The business had revenue of $99.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $6.26 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $1.88 per share. This represents a $7.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is 45.97%.

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.