Eclectic Associates Inc. ADV Purchases 320 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Eclectic Associates Inc. ADV lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,798 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group accounts for 1.5% of Eclectic Associates Inc. ADV’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Eclectic Associates Inc. ADV’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $4,956,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,532 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $8,363,000 after acquiring an additional 1,535 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 97,007 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $49,072,000 after purchasing an additional 1,288 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. CX Institutional now owns 10,853 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $5,490,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,542,000. Finally, Southland Equity Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $223,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on UNH. Barclays reduced their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $627.74.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,302,065. The trade was a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of UNH opened at $532.26 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $489.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.34, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.62. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $436.38 and a 52 week high of $630.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $542.24 and a 200-day moving average of $563.54.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The company had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.83 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were given a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.19%.

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.