UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Acquired by Thematics Asset Management

Thematics Asset Management grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 16.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 10,378 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 1,438 shares during the period. Thematics Asset Management’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $5,250,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 13.4% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 220,590 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $128,975,000 after buying an additional 26,074 shares during the period. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 1,193 shares during the period. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 9,115 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,611,000 after purchasing an additional 1,051 shares during the period. Waycross Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Waycross Partners LLC now owns 27,794 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $14,060,000 after purchasing an additional 658 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 199,536 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $100,937,000 after buying an additional 11,426 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on UNH. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $700.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays reduced their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th. Twenty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $632.85.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $456.10 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $417.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.43, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52-week low of $438.50 and a 52-week high of $630.73. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $512.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $540.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.29 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.91 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 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.