First Horizon Advisors Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,458 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 319 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $3,777,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of UNH. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,062,928 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $12,893,331,000 after buying an additional 94,641 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,039,601 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,094,247,000 after buying an additional 35,533 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 78,814.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,296,737 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,096,896,000 after buying an additional 5,290,025 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 30.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,816,254 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,942,956,000 after purchasing an additional 880,183 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,772,487 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,920,039,000 after buying an additional 21,149 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $600.50 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The business’s 50 day moving average is $582.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $551.60. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $436.38 and a 12 month high of $630.73. The company has a market cap of $552.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.58.

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 business had revenue of $100.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.56 EPS. UnitedHealth Group’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.6 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 54.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays cut their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $604.00 to $603.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bank of America cut their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. TD Cowen boosted their target price 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $615.53.

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.