UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Stock Position Raised by Disciplined Equity Management Inc.

Disciplined Equity Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 14.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,254 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group accounts for about 0.8% of Disciplined Equity Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Disciplined Equity Management Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,187,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bray Capital Advisors grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bray Capital Advisors now owns 9,616 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,848,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Oklahoma acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $441,000. Kraft Davis & Associates LLC grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Kraft Davis & Associates LLC now owns 577 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $294,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 12,445 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,274,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bluesphere Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. Bluesphere Advisors LLC now owns 2,614 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,318,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on UNH. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $591.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. StockNews.com lowered UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $545.00 to $562.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $605.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $596.00 to $555.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $570.05.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE UNH traded up $1.12 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $487.30. The stock had a trading volume of 3,722,296 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,532,990. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $486.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $514.57. The firm has a market cap of $449.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.54. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $554.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.63 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $99.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.23 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.50% and a net margin of 4.05%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $6.26 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $1.88 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $7.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.97%.

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.