637 Shares in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Acquired by Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc.

Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 637 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $335,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 100,076.4% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,823,820 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,268,753,000 after buying an additional 11,812,017 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth $5,210,004,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1,682.4% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,691,542 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,372,606,000 after purchasing an additional 2,540,538 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 53,573.1% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,352,490 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,238,515,000 after purchasing an additional 2,348,107 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 143.4% during the 2nd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,494,100 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,679,401,000 after purchasing an additional 2,058,829 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total value of $597,581.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,364 shares in the company, valued at $4,527,306.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total transaction of $451,127.82. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,977,233.31. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total value of $597,581.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,527,306.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $525.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 8th. HSBC raised UnitedHealth Group from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $460.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $566.00 to $571.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. TD Cowen cut their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $607.00 to $546.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $570.05.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 1.6 %

NYSE:UNH traded up $8.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $501.29. The stock had a trading volume of 6,616,632 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,553,088. The company has a market capitalization of $462.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.54. 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 $488.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $515.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 26.50% and a net margin of 4.05%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $6.26 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.74 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a $1.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $7.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.50%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 45.97%.

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.