King Wealth Increases Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

King Wealth grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 0.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,001 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group accounts for approximately 2.8% of King Wealth’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. King Wealth’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $13,939,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 97,436.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 1,029,274,230 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $494,710,366,000 after purchasing an additional 1,028,218,963 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 100,076.4% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,823,820 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,268,753,000 after purchasing an additional 11,812,017 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at $5,210,004,000. Gateway Advisory LLC boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 48,406.9% during the first quarter. Gateway Advisory LLC now owns 4,762,407 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,762,000 after buying an additional 4,752,589 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 264.2% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,511,174 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $732,934,000 after buying an additional 3,997,959 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $595.00 to $603.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 18th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $560.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, August 11th. HSBC assumed coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, September 6th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $540.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS Group raised UnitedHealth Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $520.00 to $640.00 in a report on Monday, October 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $578.30.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock traded down $6.06 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $534.40. 197,885 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,291,182. The stock has a market capitalization of $494.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.17, 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 fifty-two week low of $445.68 and a fifty-two week high of $553.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $516.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $497.54.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 13th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.33 by $0.23. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 6.02% and a return on equity of 26.58%. The company had revenue of $92.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $91.41 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.79 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 24.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 12th. Investors of record on Monday, December 4th will be given a $1.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 1st. This represents a $7.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.64%.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

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

About UnitedHealth Group

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.