Riverwater Partners LLC Increases Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Riverwater Partners LLC boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 6.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,531 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,280,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Howard Capital Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter valued at about $341,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,778,636 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,039,933,000 after acquiring an additional 180,479 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $319,000. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.5% in the third quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc now owns 16,370 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $9,571,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Temasek Holdings Private Ltd raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 137.6% during the third quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 161,656 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $94,517,000 after purchasing an additional 93,618 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on UNH. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $700.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

NYSE UNH opened at $524.94 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $480.17 billion, a PE ratio of 33.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52-week low of $436.38 and a 52-week high of $630.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $509.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $542.37.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.83 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.19%.

Insider Activity

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

UnitedHealth Group Company 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.