Gardner Lewis Asset Management L P Makes New Investment in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Gardner Lewis Asset Management L P acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 1,575 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $797,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of UNH. State Street Corp increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,540,102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $26,626,387,000 after purchasing an additional 563,554 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,636,704 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $11,440,133,000 after buying an additional 318,039 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,375,744,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 193,800 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,931,478 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,012,218,000 after purchasing an additional 36,394 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on UNH shares. Hsbc Global Res upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Stephens increased their price target 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $629.32.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the acquisition, 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 ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE UNH opened at $515.89 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $508.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $545.16. The company has a market capitalization of $471.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $436.38 and a 12 month 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.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share (EPS) 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.83 earnings per share. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.19%.

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.