Westside Investment Management Inc. Boosts Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 16.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,210 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 451 shares during the quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,624,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. BlackBarn Capital Partners LP grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. BlackBarn Capital Partners LP now owns 32,000 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $16,296,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 9.0% during the 2nd quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,890 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $5,546,000 after purchasing an additional 897 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 2nd quarter worth $480,903,000. Fred Alger Management LLC raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 16.7% in the second quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 103,957 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $52,941,000 after buying an additional 14,880 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 11.2% during the second quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 22,069 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $11,239,000 after acquiring an additional 2,221 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Stephens boosted their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. HSBC raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $627.74.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

UNH opened at $519.08 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $545.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $564.10. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $436.38 and a twelve month high of $630.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $477.70 billion, a PE ratio of 33.49, a PEG 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, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $101.60 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.83 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect 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 paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.62%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.19%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,302,065. This trade represents a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.