Bellecapital International Ltd. Grows Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Bellecapital International Ltd. grew its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 11.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,227 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,630 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group accounts for 1.4% of Bellecapital International Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Bellecapital International Ltd.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $8,209,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter worth about $37,000. DecisionPoint Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 155.0% in the fourth quarter. DecisionPoint Financial LLC now owns 102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter worth about $57,000. Finally, FPC Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 863.6% during the fourth quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 106 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UNH has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. HSBC upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Stephens raised their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $650.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 1.4 %

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $474.95 on Friday. 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 quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market cap of $437.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $516.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $557.04.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The firm had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.83 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.19%.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,302,065. The trade was a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is 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.