Security Financial Services INC. Acquires 59 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Security Financial Services INC. grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 10.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 617 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the quarter. Security Financial Services INC.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $305,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Richelieu Gestion SA purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. CGC Financial Services LLC lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1,000.0% during the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 55 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 148.1% during the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 67 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

NYSE:UNH opened at $486.80 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $554.70. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $497.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $503.62. The company has a market cap of $448.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.50, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.58.

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

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be issued a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 17th. This is a positive change from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.88. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UNH has been the subject of several analyst reports. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Baird R W upgraded UnitedHealth Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $618.00 to $584.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. 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 MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $579.74.

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.