Smartleaf Asset Management LLC Grows Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 26.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,664 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,596 shares during the quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $3,892,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hudson Value Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 1,069 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $625,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 4.0% in the third quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 1,777 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,039,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter worth $341,000. GSG Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 14.4% in the third quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 746 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $435,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the period. Finally, Campbell Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter worth $230,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,302,065. This trade represents a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UNH has been the subject of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer boosted 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. Hsbc Global Res raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Stephens boosted their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of UNH stock opened at $474.95 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $630.73. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $516.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $557.04. The company has a market cap of $437.09 billion, a PE ratio of 30.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61.

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

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is 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.