Novem Group Makes New Investment in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Novem Group bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,689 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $854,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in UNH. Norges Bank bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at $6,375,744,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,914,740,000. Amundi raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 97.2% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 6,069,100 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,183,132,000 after acquiring an additional 2,991,470 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 36.6% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,592,718 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,346,712,000 after purchasing an additional 2,301,010 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 76,830.4% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,888,641 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $955,388,000 after purchasing an additional 1,886,186 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $513.00 to $362.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Bank of America cut UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $560.00 to $350.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Argus cut UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $355.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $521.00 to $362.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $441.87.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, CFO John F. Rex purchased 17,175 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $291.12 per share, with a total value of $4,999,986.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 203,796 shares in the company, valued at $59,329,091.52. This represents a 9.20% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley acquired 86,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were bought at an average price of $288.57 per share, for a total transaction of $25,019,019.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 679,493 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $196,081,295.01. This trade represents a 14.63% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 5.8%

UNH opened at $303.08 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $460.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $508.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $248.88 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73. The company has a market cap of $274.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.29 by ($0.09). UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The company had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.56 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $6.91 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 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 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.77%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.18%.

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.