Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC Has $1.17 Million Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 25.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,219 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 456 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,168,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 53,573.1% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,352,490 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,238,515,000 after acquiring an additional 2,348,107 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 49.3% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,617,813 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,904,670,000 after acquiring an additional 1,195,352 shares in the last quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 75.0% during the third quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 2,011,150 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,014,002,000 after acquiring an additional 862,024 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 35.9% during the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 3,090,986 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,627,311,000 after buying an additional 815,822 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 20.1% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,725,650 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,879,245,000 after buying an additional 623,631 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on UNH shares. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $596.00 to $555.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. StockNews.com lowered UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $618.00 to $584.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $675.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $607.00 to $546.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $570.05.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total value of $597,581.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,527,306.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other UnitedHealth Group news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,527,306.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total transaction of $451,127.82. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,977,233.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE UNH opened at $487.30 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $486.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $514.57. The company has a market capitalization of $448.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.79, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.54. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $436.38 and a 1-year high of $554.70.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.63 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $99.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.23 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.50% and a net margin of 4.05%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $6.26 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were given a $1.88 dividend. This represents a $7.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.97%.

UnitedHealth Group Company 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.