Atticus Wealth Management LLC Grows Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Atticus Wealth Management LLC raised its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 26.5% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 763 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the period. Atticus Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $388,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 27.4% in the 4th quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 93 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Veracity Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 1,335 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $660,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Rodgers Brothers Inc. lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.4% during the first quarter. Rodgers Brothers Inc. now owns 842 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $417,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.1% during the second quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 975 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $497,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dougherty Wealth Advisers LLC raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 3.9% in the second quarter. Dougherty Wealth Advisers LLC now owns 538 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $274,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

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

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

NYSE UNH traded down $1.31 on Friday, reaching $578.30. 1,116,671 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,217,997. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $527.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $506.92. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $436.38 and a 12 month high of $591.54. The company has a market cap of $532.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

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

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on UNH. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group upped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Baird R W upgraded UnitedHealth Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $555.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $614.17.

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.