245 Shares in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Purchased by 1620 Investment Advisors Inc.

1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 245 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $124,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wallace Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.9% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 902 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $456,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 2,578 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,304,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC now owns 575 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $291,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prentice Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,527 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,278,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

NYSE UNH opened at $517.72 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $510.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $547.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $473.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.40, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two 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.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.83 EPS. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.62%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.19%.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,302,065. This represents a 28.57 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on UNH shares. Barclays lowered their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Stephens raised their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $700.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, StockNews.com raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock 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.