SlateStone Wealth LLC Raises Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

SlateStone Wealth LLC boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,583 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $5,354,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wallace Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.9% in the third quarter. Wallace Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,119 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,239,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 902 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $456,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 2,578 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,304,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC now owns 575 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, 44 Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,309 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $662,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,302,065. This represents a 28.57 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of UNH stock opened at $488.52 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $630.73. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $511.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $550.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company has a market cap of $446.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.52, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The company had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.83 EPS. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 54.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on UNH. Stephens increased their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group 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.