Board of the Pension Protection Fund Buys Shares of 1,500 UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 1,500 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $759,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. Rockland Trust Co. raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 79,442 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $40,187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,461 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,440 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,799,000 after purchasing an additional 1,422 shares during the period. Community Trust & Investment Co. lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co. now owns 58,501 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $29,593,000 after purchasing an additional 969 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth $563,000. Finally, Floyd Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at $859,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on UNH shares. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $591.00 to $644.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $626.79.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE UNH opened at $543.76 on Wednesday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $436.38 and a one year high of $630.73. The business’s fifty day moving average is $554.45 and its 200-day moving average is $563.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $500.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.42, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.62.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.00 by $0.15. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 26.37%. The company had revenue of $100.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $6.56 EPS. UnitedHealth Group’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 54.72%.

UnitedHealth Group Company 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.