Wedmont Private Capital Buys 4,011 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH

Wedmont Private Capital raised its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 36.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,040 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,011 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $5,469,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of UNH. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 685.7% in the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 55 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Sagard Holdings Management Inc. bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the second quarter valued at $29,000. Islay Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 69.4% in the second quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 105 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on UNH shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $378.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $317.00 to $409.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Zacks Research raised UnitedHealth Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $440.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $352.00 to $386.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $385.54.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 0.8%

NYSE UNH opened at $331.60 on Thursday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $234.60 and a 52 week high of $606.36. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $338.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $317.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $300.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.31, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82.

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

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 8th were paid a $2.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 8th. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.14%.

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.