Commonwealth Financial Services LLC Acquires 69 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Commonwealth Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 9.5% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 795 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $464,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 84,405,255 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $41,755,280,000 after purchasing an additional 544,740 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,062,928 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $12,893,331,000 after buying an additional 94,641 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,039,601 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,094,247,000 after buying an additional 35,533 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 78,814.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,296,737 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,096,896,000 after buying an additional 5,290,025 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 30.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,816,254 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,942,956,000 after buying an additional 880,183 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

NYSE:UNH opened at $560.82 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $436.38 and a 52 week high of $608.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $517.87 billion, a PE ratio of 36.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $584.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $536.49.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.00 by $0.15. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The firm had revenue of $100.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $6.56 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 54.72%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on UNH shares. KeyCorp started coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, October 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $675.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen increased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $615.53.

UnitedHealth Group 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.