Vega Investment Solutions Takes Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Vega Investment Solutions acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 281 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $142,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NewSquare Capital LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UNH has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho cut their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $515.00 to $350.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Wall Street Zen raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $355.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Erste Group Bank downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $308.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $441.87.

Insider Activity

In other UnitedHealth Group news, CFO John F. Rex bought 17,175 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $291.12 per share, for a total transaction of $4,999,986.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 203,796 shares in the company, valued at $59,329,091.52. This trade represents a 9.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley bought 86,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $288.57 per share, with a total value of $25,019,019.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 679,493 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $196,081,295.01. The trade was a 14.63% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders purchased 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

NYSE UNH opened at $296.45 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $456.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $506.94. 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 company has a market cap of $268.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $248.88 and a 1-year high of $630.73.

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

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is presently 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.