Optiver Holding B.V. Takes $424,000 Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Optiver Holding B.V. purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 839 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $424,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,956,219 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $10,068,869,000 after acquiring an additional 319,515 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,616,007 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $7,899,905,000 after acquiring an additional 906,365 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,375,744,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,923,770 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,514,178,000 after acquiring an additional 861,854 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,931,478 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,012,218,000 after purchasing an additional 36,394 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNH has been the topic of several research reports. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. HSBC restated a “hold” rating and issued a $490.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $664.00 to $563.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $603.05.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of UNH opened at $420.04 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $382.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $412.02 and a 12-month high of $630.73. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $501.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $532.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.29 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.91 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 35.18%.

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.