Cannell & Co. Buys 45 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Cannell & Co. raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,205 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the quarter. Cannell & Co.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,161,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of UNH. Bray Capital Advisors raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 0.5% in the third quarter. Bray Capital Advisors now owns 9,616 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,848,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Innova Wealth Partners raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 2.9% in the third quarter. Innova Wealth Partners now owns 737 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $372,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. TFC Financial Management Inc. raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 7.8% in the third quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 417 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $210,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Rosenbaum Jay D. raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 44.6% in the third quarter. Rosenbaum Jay D. now owns 823 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $415,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the period. Finally, Baxter Bros Inc. raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 3.9% in the third quarter. Baxter Bros Inc. now owns 1,417 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $714,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $596.00 to $555.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $618.00 to $584.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 5th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $610.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $566.00 to $571.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $605.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $570.05.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

UNH opened at $484.11 on Thursday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $436.38 and a 12-month high of $554.70. The stock has a market cap of $445.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.59, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.55. The business has a 50 day moving average of $483.69 and a 200-day moving average of $513.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

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

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

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 was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $7.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 45.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.