Cornerstone Wealth Advisors Inc. Has $1.19 Million Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Cornerstone Wealth Advisors Inc. cut its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,360 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 58 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group accounts for about 0.3% of Cornerstone Wealth Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Cornerstone Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,194,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eclectic Associates Inc. ADV boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Eclectic Associates Inc. ADV now owns 9,798 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,956,000 after buying an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,532 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $8,363,000 after acquiring an additional 1,535 shares during the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 97,007 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $49,072,000 after acquiring an additional 1,288 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 10,853 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $5,490,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth about $3,542,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on UNH shares. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $700.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $627.74.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $532.26 on Friday. 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 Incorporated has a one year low of $436.38 and a one year high of $630.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $489.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.34, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.62. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $542.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $563.54.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $100.81 billion during 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%. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.83 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were given a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,000 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,302,065. This represents a 28.57 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.