Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Grows Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 11.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 77,338 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,818 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $24,127,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of UNH. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the first quarter worth about $3,846,764,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,729,585 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $47,519,620,000 after purchasing an additional 5,583,343 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 10.6% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,847,940 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $13,537,859,000 after acquiring an additional 2,486,839 shares during the last quarter. Davis Selected Advisers boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2,234.9% during the 2nd quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 1,132,885 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $353,426,000 after acquiring an additional 1,084,366 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 137.8% during the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,641,177 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $859,518,000 after purchasing an additional 950,928 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

NYSE:UNH opened at $321.44 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $291.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $234.60 and a 52 week high of $622.83. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $347.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $319.44.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $2.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.87 by $0.05. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 19.23% and a net margin of 4.04%.The firm had revenue of $113.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $113.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $7.15 EPS. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 8th will be paid a dividend of $2.21 per share. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 8th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UNH has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $317.00 to $409.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Bank of America raised their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $350.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $335.00 to $338.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $300.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $397.12.

About UnitedHealth Group

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.