PFW Advisors LLC Invests $1.53 Million in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 3,018 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $1,527,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,540,102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $26,626,387,000 after purchasing an additional 563,554 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,636,704 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $11,440,133,000 after buying an additional 318,039 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,061,916 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,884,019,000 after purchasing an additional 193,800 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 78,814.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,296,737 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,096,896,000 after buying an additional 5,290,025 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 30.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,816,254 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,942,956,000 after buying an additional 880,183 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on UNH. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $591.00 to $644.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $603.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $626.79.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNH opened at $541.28 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $554.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $562.88. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73. The company has a market cap of $498.13 billion, a PE ratio of 35.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.62.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.00 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $100.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.14 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 26.37%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.56 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.55%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.72%.

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.