UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Position Increased by Hartline Investment Corp

Hartline Investment Corp increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 6.1% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 5,122 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 294 shares during the quarter. Hartline Investment Corp’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $2,534,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 45.9% during the first quarter. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. now owns 3,631 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,796,000 after acquiring an additional 1,142 shares in the last quarter. Longbow Finance SA bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $13,305,000. Norden Group LLC raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 19.3% during the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 5,260 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,602,000 after acquiring an additional 850 shares in the last quarter. Culbertson A N & Co. Inc. raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.8% during the first quarter. Culbertson A N & Co. Inc. now owns 12,129 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,000,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 7.8% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 154,425 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $76,394,000 after acquiring an additional 11,197 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on UNH shares. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $566.00 to $571.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $618.00 to $584.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 5th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $607.00 to $546.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $534.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $579.74.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNH traded down $1.88 on Friday, hitting $488.01. The stock had a trading volume of 3,230,423 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,269,000. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $436.38 and a twelve month high of $554.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $498.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $500.96. The company has a market capitalization of $449.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.60.

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, topping 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 company had revenue of $99.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.26 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.55 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 17th were given a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.72%. This is an increase from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.88. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 17th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.34%.

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.