Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA Grows Stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,583 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $2,009,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 78,814.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,296,737 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,096,896,000 after acquiring an additional 5,290,025 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the first quarter worth $1,117,462,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 107.8% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,306,729 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,141,113,000 after buying an additional 1,196,758 shares during the period. Lone Pine Capital LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the second quarter valued at about $480,903,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 30.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,816,254 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,942,956,000 after buying an additional 880,183 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on UNH shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $597.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Stephens lowered their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $632.00 to $605.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. HSBC downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $615.53.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:UNH traded up $5.36 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $567.49. 278,658 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,902,051. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $582.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $540.32. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52-week low of $436.38 and a 52-week high of $608.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market cap of $524.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.58.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.00 by $0.15. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 26.37%. The company had revenue of $100.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $6.56 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 54.72%.

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.