Jones Financial Companies Lllp Increases Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 42.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 67,586 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,012 shares during the quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $34,189,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of UNH. Hudson Value Partners LLC boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 8.3% in the third quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 1,069 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $625,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 4.0% in the third quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 1,777 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,039,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $341,000. GSG Advisors LLC boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 14.4% in the 3rd quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 746 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $435,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 3,072 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,734,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,302,065. The trade was a 28.57 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UNH has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $650.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $700.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of 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 assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of UNH opened at $474.95 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52-week low of $436.38 and a 52-week high of $630.73. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $516.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $556.89. The company has a market capitalization of $437.09 billion, a PE ratio of 30.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.83 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 54.19%.

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.