Port Capital LLC Grows Stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Port Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 72,792 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 1,174 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group accounts for about 1.7% of Port Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position. Port Capital LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $36,823,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of UNH. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 50.3% during the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 1,320 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $668,000 after acquiring an additional 442 shares during the period. Tuttle Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 34.1% during the fourth quarter. Tuttle Capital Management LLC now owns 629 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $318,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the period. Tlwm boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Tlwm now owns 2,708 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,370,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Lpwm LLC boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 80.8% in the fourth quarter. Lpwm LLC now owns 866 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $438,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares during the period. Finally, SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,223 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,630,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

NYSE UNH opened at $308.35 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $478.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $517.83. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $284.25 and a 1 year high of $630.73. The company has a market cap of $279.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.89, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56.

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

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.72%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 35.18%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on UNH. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $677.00 to $351.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Erste Group Bank lowered UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Argus downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $563.00 to $374.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $521.00 to $362.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $523.52.

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.