UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH Stock Holdings Lifted by Quadrature Capital Ltd

Quadrature Capital Ltd increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 6,493.3% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 568,869 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 560,241 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group comprises approximately 3.1% of Quadrature Capital Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Quadrature Capital Ltd’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $177,328,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of UNH. Bayforest Capital Ltd boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 685.7% in the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 55 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 416.7% in the first quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 62 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Islay Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Nova Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 339.1% in the first quarter. Nova Wealth Management Inc. now owns 101 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on UNH shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Barclays lifted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $352.00 to $386.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings raised UnitedHealth Group from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $350.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $286.00 to $408.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $397.12.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 1.1%

NYSE UNH opened at $329.78 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $234.60 and a 12 month high of $622.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $298.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.21, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.47. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $343.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $315.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $2.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.87 by $0.05. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 4.04% and a return on equity of 19.23%. The business had revenue of $113.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $113.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $7.15 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 8th will be issued a $2.21 dividend. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 8th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 46.14%.

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.