Knuff & Co LLC Takes $68,000 Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 135 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $68,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,914,740,000. Amundi boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 97.2% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 6,069,100 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,183,132,000 after buying an additional 2,991,470 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 76,830.4% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,888,641 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $955,388,000 after buying an additional 1,886,186 shares during the period. Accredited Investors Inc. boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 9,235.4% during 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. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 129.7% during 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 buying an additional 581,324 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

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 cost of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,302,065. This trade represents a 28.57 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

NYSE:UNH opened at $486.54 on Wednesday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $436.38 and a 12-month high of $630.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $445.04 billion, a PE ratio of 31.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $512.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $552.00.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.83 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.73%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on UNH. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th. HSBC raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays dropped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $629.32.

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.