UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Bought by West Paces Advisors Inc.

West Paces Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,649 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. West Paces Advisors Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $868,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 1st quarter worth about $210,000. McGowan Group Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. McGowan Group Asset Management Inc. now owns 744 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $379,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 31.8% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 250,196 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $127,592,000 after purchasing an additional 60,300 shares in the last quarter. MAS Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. MAS Advisors LLC now owns 463 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Western Trust Bank purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $875,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on UNH shares. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $584.00 to $581.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $596.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $610.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $605.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $573.80.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 5.2 %

UNH traded up $23.26 on Tuesday, hitting $468.89. 11,813,391 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,407,214. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $436.38 and a twelve month high of $554.70. The company has a market cap of $432.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $491.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $515.88.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.54 by $0.37. The business had revenue of $99.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.23 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 6.02% and a return on equity of 26.39%. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $6.26 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.7 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 11th were issued a $1.88 dividend. This represents a $7.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 31.54%.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $4,527,306.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total transaction of $597,581.28. Following the completion of 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total value of $451,127.82. Following the sale, 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 corporate insiders.

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.