HTLF Bank Acquires Shares of 2,435 UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

HTLF Bank acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,435 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $1,282,000.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on UNH shares. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $610.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. TD Cowen cut their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $607.00 to $546.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $596.00 to $555.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $570.05.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other UnitedHealth Group news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total transaction of $451,127.82. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,289 shares in the company, valued at $16,977,233.31. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $4,527,306.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

NYSE UNH traded up $9.06 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $502.24. The company had a trading volume of 2,194,037 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,492,716. The business has a 50 day moving average of $488.97 and a 200-day moving average of $515.22. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $436.38 and a 1-year high of $554.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company has a market cap of $463.03 billion, a PE ratio of 30.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.54.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.63 by $0.28. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 4.05% and a return on equity of 26.50%. The business had revenue of $99.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $6.26 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.74 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were issued a dividend of $1.88 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $7.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.50%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.