Liberty One Investment Management LLC Buys 551 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Liberty One Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 7.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,248 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 551 shares during the quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $4,172,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. M&T Bank Corp raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 13.4% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 220,590 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $128,975,000 after purchasing an additional 26,074 shares in the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 17.6% during the 4th quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,957 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,025,000 after buying an additional 1,193 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1,275.3% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 44,547 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $26,060,000 after acquiring an additional 41,308 shares during the last quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter worth about $21,165,000. Finally, Signal Advisors Wealth LLC increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 9,115 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,611,000 after purchasing an additional 1,051 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UNH stock opened at $510.03 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $549.37 and its 200-day moving average is $562.73. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $630.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $469.37 billion, a PE ratio of 33.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.62.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The company had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.60 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.83 EPS. UnitedHealth Group’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on UNH shares. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $627.74.

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.