UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Stake Boosted by Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC

Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 716,647 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 21,402 shares during the quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $362,523,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital & Planning LLC raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 19.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 491 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $248,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 23.0% during the 4th quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 3,864 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,955,000 after acquiring an additional 723 shares in the last quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 2,872 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,449,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. West Branch Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 11,170 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $5,650,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the period. Finally, Global Trust Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Global Trust Asset Management LLC now owns 1,674 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $847,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO John F. Rex purchased 17,175 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $291.12 per share, for a total transaction of $4,999,986.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 203,796 shares in the company, valued at $59,329,091.52. This represents a 9.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,533 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $320.80 per share, for a total transaction of $491,786.40. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,935,386.40. This represents a 34.07% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased a total of 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 2.2%

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $296.45 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $456.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $506.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $268.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $248.88 and a 52 week high of $630.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.29 by ($0.09). UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The business had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.91 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given 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 2.83%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 35.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $575.00 to $450.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Erste Group Bank downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $563.00 to $374.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wolfe Research cut their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $501.00 to $390.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $405.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $441.87.

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.