GAMMA Investing LLC Grows Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 7.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,838 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,089 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group comprises about 0.6% of GAMMA Investing LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $8,295,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. NewSquare Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,533 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were bought at an average price of $320.80 per share, with a total value of $491,786.40. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 6,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,935,386.40. This represents a 34.07% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John H. Noseworthy bought 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was bought at an average price of $312.16 per share, for a total transaction of $93,648.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 6,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,892,626.08. This represents a 5.21% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer cut their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. TD Securities reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $308.00 price objective (down from $520.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $521.00 to $362.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $312.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, HSBC reiterated a “reduce” rating and issued a $270.00 price target (down previously from $490.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $415.57.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 2.1%

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $308.85 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $280.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.44. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $248.88 and a 12-month high of $630.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $336.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $454.51.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.29 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 5.39% and a return on equity of 26.29%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $6.91 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $2.21 per share. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. This is an increase from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.02%.

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.