Financial Architects Inc Grows Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Financial Architects Inc increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 8.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,042 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 81 shares during the quarter. Financial Architects Inc’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $501,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 72,816 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $34,998,000 after acquiring an additional 1,839 shares during the period. Humankind Investments LLC lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1,573.7% during the 2nd quarter. Humankind Investments LLC now owns 48,454 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,802,000 after acquiring an additional 45,559 shares during the period. Burney Co. lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Burney Co. now owns 47,261 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $22,715,000 after buying an additional 254 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,451,369 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,178,190,000 after buying an additional 75,702 shares during the period. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 2,378,809 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,143,351,000 after buying an additional 47,076 shares during the period. 85.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNH opened at $540.38 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $499.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $445.68 and a 52 week high of $553.00. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $516.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $497.54.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 13th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.33 by $0.23. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.58% and a net margin of 6.02%. The firm had revenue of $92.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $91.41 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.79 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 24.94 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 4th will be paid a dividend of $1.88 per share. This represents a $7.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 1st. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Stephen J. Hemsley sold 121,515 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $540.58, for a total transaction of $65,688,578.70. Following the transaction, the director now owns 521,818 shares in the company, valued at $282,084,374.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Stephen J. Hemsley sold 121,515 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $540.58, for a total value of $65,688,578.70. Following the transaction, the director now owns 521,818 shares in the company, valued at $282,084,374.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 4,498 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $544.28, for a total value of $2,448,171.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,218 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,017,173.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $591.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Thursday, September 14th. UBS Group raised UnitedHealth Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $520.00 to $640.00 in a research note on Monday, October 16th. HSBC started coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, September 6th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $540.00 price objective for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein raised UnitedHealth Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $595.00 to $603.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $529.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $578.30.

UnitedHealth Group Profile

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated operates as a diversified health care company in the United States. It 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.