UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Stake Increased by Avitas Wealth Management LLC

Avitas Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH – Get Rating) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,837 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group comprises about 2.0% of Avitas Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Avitas Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $9,457,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 82,969,869 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $41,903,103,000 after buying an additional 851,994 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 49,813,470 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $25,585,693,000 after acquiring an additional 998,214 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 17.8% during the 2nd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 36,853,394 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $18,929,009,000 after acquiring an additional 5,556,335 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 7,276,059 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,674,701,000 after acquiring an additional 367,153 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,963,772 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,576,829,000 after acquiring an additional 143,238 shares during the last quarter. 86.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:UNH opened at $469.50 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $449.70 and a 12-month high of $558.10. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $483.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $510.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $437.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.16, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.69.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 13th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $5.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.17 by $0.17. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 27.04% and a net margin of 6.21%. The firm had revenue of $82.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $82.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.48 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 24.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 21st. Investors of record on Monday, March 13th will be issued a $1.65 dividend. This represents a $6.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 31.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on UNH. StockNews.com upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 11th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $605.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Tuesday, February 28th. UBS Group cut their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $590.00 to $550.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $617.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 24th. Finally, Raymond James lowered UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $615.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, November 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $599.68.

UnitedHealth Group Profile

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UnitedHealth Group, Inc engages in the provision of health care coverage, software, and data consultancy services. It operates through the following segments: UnitedHealthcare, OptumHealth, OptumInsight, and OptumRx. The UnitedHealthcare segment utilizes Optum’s capabilities to help coordinate patient care, improve affordability of medical care, analyze cost trends, manage pharmacy benefits, work with care providers more effectively, and create a simpler consumer experience.