Apriem Advisors Makes New Investment in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Apriem Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 759 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $384,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 88.0% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 258,833 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $151,374,000 after buying an additional 121,180 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 1,069 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $625,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 1,777 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,039,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Group LLC purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $341,000. Finally, GSG Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 14.4% during the third quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 746 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $435,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 1.4 %

NYSE:UNH opened at $463.69 on Thursday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $436.38 and a 1-year high of $630.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $426.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.92, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $517.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $558.41.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The firm had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.83 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on UNH shares. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Hsbc Global Res raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Stephens boosted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $629.32.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,302,065. This represents a 28.57 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.