NewEdge Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 12.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 123,126 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 13,924 shares during the quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $62,703,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bell Investment Advisors Inc increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 525 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $276,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.2% in the first quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 35,946 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $17,783,000 after buying an additional 1,129 shares during the last quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 9.8% during the first quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,246 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $573,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Capital Insight Partners LLC lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Capital Insight Partners LLC now owns 9,045 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,475,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the period. Finally, Collective Family Office LLC increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 4.3% in the first quarter. Collective Family Office LLC now owns 1,577 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $780,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on UNH shares. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $555.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays increased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $560.00 to $604.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $481.00 to $647.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $614.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $579.03, for a total value of $868,545.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 7,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,507,748.55. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other UnitedHealth Group news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 2,851 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $569.88, for a total transaction of $1,624,727.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,501 shares in the company, valued at $16,812,029.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $579.03, for a total value of $868,545.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 7,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,507,748.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of UNH stock opened at $581.85 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $607.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $537.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.57, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $579.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $524.13.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.66 by $0.14. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.66% and a return on equity of 26.55%. The business had revenue of $98.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $98.73 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $6.14 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 51.34%.

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.