Peak Financial Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Peak Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 5,762 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $2,850,000. UnitedHealth Group accounts for about 1.7% of Peak Financial Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of UNH. Norges Bank purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $5,802,231,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 53,573.1% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,352,490 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,238,515,000 after buying an additional 2,348,107 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 49.3% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,617,813 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,904,670,000 after buying an additional 1,195,352 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 35.9% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 3,090,986 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,627,311,000 after purchasing an additional 815,822 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 3,464.9% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 825,311 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $434,501,000 after purchasing an additional 802,160 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UNH has been the topic of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $545.00 to $562.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $534.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Baird R W raised shares of UnitedHealth Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $546.00 to $559.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $579.74.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

NYSE:UNH opened at $489.99 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $497.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $503.21. The company has a market cap of $450.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $436.38 and a 52 week high of $554.70.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $6.26 earnings per share. 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be given a dividend of $2.10 per share. This is a boost from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.88. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 17th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio 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.