Advocate Group LLC Buys 65 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Advocate Group LLC boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,563 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the quarter. Advocate Group LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $3,982,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 46,313,751 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $22,260,241,000 after buying an additional 764,872 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,220,234 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $12,715,790,000 after buying an additional 527,526 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 15,635,038 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $8,289,386,000 after buying an additional 1,893,192 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 100,076.4% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,823,820 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $6,268,753,000 after purchasing an additional 11,812,017 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 11,749,819 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $5,647,433,000 after purchasing an additional 399,739 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $584.00 to $581.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $605.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $610.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Thursday, November 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $596.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Thursday, February 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $579.33.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total transaction of $597,581.28. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,364 shares in the company, valued at $4,527,306.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total value of $597,581.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,364 shares in the company, valued at $4,527,306.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total transaction of $451,127.82. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,977,233.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE UNH traded up $1.60 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $494.70. 3,820,008 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,274,309. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $445.68 and a 12-month high of $554.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $502.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $518.44. The firm has a market cap of $456.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.54.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 12th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.98 by $0.18. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 6.02% and a return on equity of 26.39%. The business had revenue of $94.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $92.13 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.34 earnings per share. UnitedHealth Group’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.82 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a $1.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $7.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.52%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.54%.

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.