Exchange Capital Management Inc. Makes New Investment in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Exchange Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 843 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $426,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. M&T Bank Corp grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 220,590 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $128,975,000 after buying an additional 26,074 shares during the period. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 17.6% during the fourth quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,957 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,025,000 after acquiring an additional 1,193 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1,275.3% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 44,547 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $26,060,000 after purchasing an additional 41,308 shares during the period. Parsifal Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $21,165,000. Finally, Signal Advisors Wealth LLC raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 9,115 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,611,000 after buying an additional 1,051 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $650.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $629.32.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,302,065. The trade was a 28.57 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 1.9 %

UNH stock opened at $470.49 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $518.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $559.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $436.38 and a 1-year high of $630.73. The firm has a market cap of $432.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.35, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61.

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

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.19%.

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.