Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 250,291 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 83,860,515 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 250,291 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group accounts for about 1.0% of Vanguard Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 9.10% of UnitedHealth Group worth $44,150,045,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Paralel Advisors LLC grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1.1% during the third quarter. Paralel Advisors LLC now owns 4,047 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,040,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1.8% during the third quarter. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,714 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $5,906,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,364 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,209,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. Chiron Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $12,037,000. Finally, Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 3.8% during the third quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,783 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,916,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on UNH. Baird R W upgraded UnitedHealth Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. HSBC raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $580.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $525.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 8th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $607.00 to $546.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $534.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $579.74.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

UNH stock opened at $489.16 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market cap of $450.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.90, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $494.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $505.48. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $436.38 and a one year high of $554.70.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.63 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $99.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.23 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 4.05% and a return on equity of 26.50%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.26 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be given a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 17th. This is a positive change from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.88. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.72%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is 45.97%.

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.