Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC Buys 88 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,137 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $668,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Copley Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $786,000. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter valued at $44,742,000. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 9,102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $5,322,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 124.2% in the third quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 287 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $168,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,061,916 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,884,019,000 after purchasing an additional 193,800 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on UNH shares. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $591.00 to $644.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $626.84.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 0.2 %

UNH stock traded up $1.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $516.91. The company had a trading volume of 2,214,146 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,959,735. 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 company has a market capitalization of $475.70 billion, a PE ratio of 33.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $583.29 and a 200 day moving average of $559.30. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $436.38 and a 12 month high of $630.73.

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

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.63%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 54.72%.

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.