SlateStone Wealth LLC Acquires 86 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

SlateStone Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 10,583 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $5,354,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. NewSquare Capital LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of UNH opened at $488.52 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $446.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.52, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $511.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $550.07. 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.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.83 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.72%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 54.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $700.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $629.32.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,302,065. The trade was a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group 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.