Advisory Research Inc. Has $11.32 Million Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Advisory Research Inc. lessened its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 22,378 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 156 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group accounts for about 1.9% of Advisory Research Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Advisory Research Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $11,320,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of UNH. NewSquare Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,302,065. This represents a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 0.3 %

UNH stock opened at $585.30 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $516.05 and its 200-day moving average is $542.41. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $438.50 and a twelve month high of $630.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $535.38 billion, a PE ratio of 37.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The company had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.83 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UNH has been the subject of several research reports. Mizuho increased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $700.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $650.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, HSBC upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Twenty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $632.85.

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.