CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp Takes Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 23,232 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $11,493,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Paralel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Paralel Advisors LLC now owns 4,047 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $2,040,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter worth $278,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter worth $1,095,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,479 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $746,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mystic Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $208,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UNH has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $596.00 to $555.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $525.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 8th. HSBC upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $580.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $591.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $579.74.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNH opened at $482.59 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $444.17 billion, a PE ratio of 29.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.58. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $497.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $503.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $436.38 and a one year high of $554.70.

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

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be paid a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.74%. This is an increase from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.88. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 17th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.34%.

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.