UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Bought by Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.

Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 14.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 39,389 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,092 shares during the quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $20,737,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of UNH. Buckhead Capital Management LLC increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Buckhead Capital Management LLC now owns 13,189 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $6,943,000 after purchasing an additional 537 shares in the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 2,072 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,091,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. RB Capital Management LLC grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 5,086 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,678,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 23,019 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $12,119,000 after acquiring an additional 333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orion Capital Management LLC grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 40.8% in the fourth quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC now owns 763 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $402,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on UNH shares. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. HSBC upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $460.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $545.00 to $562.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Barclays raised their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $534.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $570.05.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

NYSE:UNH traded up $0.41 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $484.11. 2,623,945 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,444,623. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $484.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $513.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $445.42 billion, a PE ratio of 29.74, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.54. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $436.38 and a 1-year high of $554.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.63 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $99.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.23 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.50% and a net margin of 4.05%. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $6.26 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were given a $1.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $7.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.55%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.97%.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

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

UnitedHealth Group 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.