Vestcor Inc Acquires 1,269 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Vestcor Inc grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 55,287 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,269 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group comprises about 1.0% of Vestcor Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $32,325,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 130.9% in the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,318,475 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $671,447,000 after buying an additional 747,354 shares during the period. QV Investors Inc. raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 33.8% in the second quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 66,494 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $33,863,000 after purchasing an additional 16,780 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1,538.2% in the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 2,490 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,234,000 after purchasing an additional 2,338 shares during the period. Addenda Capital Inc. lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Addenda Capital Inc. now owns 25,599 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $13,037,000 after buying an additional 696 shares during the period. Finally, Tsfg LLC grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 10.6% in the second quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 386 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $197,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNH has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Hsbc Global Res downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America cut their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, HSBC cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $626.84.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE:UNH opened at $561.10 on Tuesday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $436.38 and a 52 week high of $630.73. The company has a market capitalization of $516.37 billion, a PE ratio of 36.55, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $586.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $559.39.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly 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 return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The company had revenue of $100.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $6.56 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.63 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.50%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.