Advocate Group LLC Grows Stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Advocate Group LLC increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 2.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,094 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the quarter. Advocate Group LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $4,732,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. Visionary Wealth Advisors lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Visionary Wealth Advisors now owns 1,232 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $649,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Garner Asset Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at $132,000. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Waverly Advisors LLC boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 90.8% during the fourth quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 9,710 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $5,112,000 after acquiring an additional 4,622 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC now owns 10,503 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $5,530,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on UNH shares. Truist Financial raised their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $597.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. HSBC lifted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $580.00 to $610.00 in a report on Thursday, July 18th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $591.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $614.17.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNH traded up $6.13 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $597.35. The company had a trading volume of 431,397 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,921,849. The company has a fifty day moving average of $582.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $529.56. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $436.38 and a 12-month high of $607.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company has a market cap of $551.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.14, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.58.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.66 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $98.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $98.73 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.66% and a return on equity of 26.55%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $6.14 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 51.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other UnitedHealth Group news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $579.03, for a total transaction of $868,545.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,507,748.55. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other UnitedHealth Group news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $579.03, for a total transaction of $868,545.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 7,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,507,748.55. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 2,851 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $569.88, for a total value of $1,624,727.88. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,812,029.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.