Sanders Morris Harris LLC Buys Shares of 2,190 UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH

Sanders Morris Harris LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 2,190 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $756,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Mirador Capital Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 28.4% during the 3rd quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 1,357 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $468,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Graves Light Lenhart Wealth Inc. grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 18.5% in the third quarter. Graves Light Lenhart Wealth Inc. now owns 2,039 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $704,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 78.7% during the 3rd quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 5,649 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,951,000 after purchasing an additional 2,487 shares during the last quarter. Wiser Wealth Management Inc acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $232,000. Finally, JBGlobal.com LLC acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter worth approximately $201,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of UNH opened at $334.37 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $302.89 billion, a PE ratio of 17.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.43. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $338.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $317.74. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52-week low of $234.60 and a 52-week high of $606.36.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $2.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.87 by $0.05. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 19.23% and a net margin of 4.04%.The firm had revenue of $113.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $113.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $7.15 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 8th were given a $2.21 dividend. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 8th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UNH has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $286.00 to $408.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Zacks Research raised UnitedHealth Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $325.00 to $395.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $300.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $385.54.

About UnitedHealth Group

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.