UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH Stake Increased by D.A. Davidson & CO.

D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 33.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 75,736 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,935 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $26,152,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 685.7% in the first quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 55 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Sagard Holdings Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the second quarter worth $29,000. Islay Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 69.4% during the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on UNH. Leerink Partners set a $410.00 target price on UnitedHealth Group and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $423.00 to $417.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $310.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $286.00 to $408.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $385.54.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 1.9%

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $336.34 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $330.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $319.88. The stock has a market cap of $304.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.55, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.42. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $234.60 and a 52 week high of $606.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $2.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.87 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $113.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $113.19 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 4.04% and a return on equity of 19.23%. The business’s revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $7.15 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

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

UnitedHealth Group Company Profile

UnitedHealth Group Inc is a diversified health care company headquartered in Minnetonka, Minnesota, that operates two primary business platforms: UnitedHealthcare and Optum. Founded in 1977, the company provides a broad range of health benefits and health care services to individuals, employers, governmental entities and other organizations. Its operations span commercial employer-sponsored plans, individual and Medicare and Medicaid programs, and services for customers and health systems in the United States and selected international markets.

UnitedHealthcare is the company’s benefits business, administering health plans and networks, managing provider relationships, and offering coverage products for employers, individuals, and government-sponsored programs.