Ascension Capital Advisors Inc. Acquires Shares of 400 UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Ascension Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 400 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $234,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 152.4% during the third quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 53 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 671.4% in the 2nd quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 54 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Delos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 757.1% during the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 60 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $625.00 price objective (down previously from $640.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Argus lifted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. KeyCorp initiated coverage on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $675.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $615.53.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

NYSE:UNH opened at $596.69 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $551.00 billion, a PE ratio of 38.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.58. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $608.63. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $581.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $543.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.00 by $0.15. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The company had revenue of $100.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $6.56 earnings per share. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. 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.