Sanders Morris Harris LLC Acquires New Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH

Sanders Morris Harris LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 2,190 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $756,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 176.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 44,249 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $22,384,000 after buying an additional 28,231 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 137.1% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,019 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,033,000 after buying an additional 2,324 shares during the last quarter. Versor Investments LP acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $734,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,375,000. Finally, Bank OZK increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 4.6% in the first quarter. Bank OZK now owns 766 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $401,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of UNH opened at $334.37 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $234.60 and a 1-year high of $606.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $302.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.43. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $338.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $317.74.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $2.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 last year, the firm posted $7.15 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 8th were given a dividend of $2.21 per share. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 8th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is presently 46.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on UNH shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $333.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $433.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Zacks Research raised UnitedHealth Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $310.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $406.00 price objective on the stock. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $385.54.

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.