UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Purchased by Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc.

Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 448 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $228,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. Aveo Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 23.8% during the fourth quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,164 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,139,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,273 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $2,250,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 80.9% during the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 6,220 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,275,000 after purchasing an additional 2,782 shares during the last quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 102.8% during the fourth quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC now owns 14,774 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $7,778,000 after purchasing an additional 7,489 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ING Groep NV bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth about $12,271,000. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on UNH shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $481.00 to $647.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Baird R W raised shares of UnitedHealth Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $597.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $546.00 to $601.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $614.17.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:UNH opened at $594.32 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $548.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.33, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.58. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $436.38 and a 1-year high of $607.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $569.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $517.70.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.66 by $0.14. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.66% and a return on equity of 26.55%. The firm had revenue of $98.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $98.73 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.14 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is 51.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $579.03, for a total value of $868,545.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 7,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,507,748.55. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other UnitedHealth Group news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,500 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $579.03, for a total transaction of $868,545.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 7,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,507,748.55. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 2,851 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $569.88, for a total transaction of $1,624,727.88. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,812,029.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.