Marino Stram & Associates LLC Increases Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Marino Stram & Associates LLC raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 758 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. Marino Stram & Associates LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $383,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 5,290,025 shares during the period. Lone Pine Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the second quarter worth about $480,903,000. Accredited Investors Inc. boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 9,235.4% in the third quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 784,924 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $458,929,000 after buying an additional 776,516 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 33.1% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,361,396 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,380,661,000 after acquiring an additional 587,088 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 129.7% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,029,540 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $601,951,000 after acquiring an additional 581,324 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,302,065. This trade represents a 28.57 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on UNH. Stephens boosted their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $627.74.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNH opened at $519.08 on Thursday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $436.38 and a one year high of $630.73. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $545.26 and a 200-day moving average of $564.10. The company has a market capitalization of $477.70 billion, a PE ratio of 33.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The company had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.83 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 54.19%.

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.