UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Purchased by Covington Investment Advisors Inc.

Covington Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 0.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 25,638 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 36 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group comprises approximately 2.3% of Covington Investment Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Covington Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $14,990,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of UNH. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 20.6% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 10,867 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $5,376,000 after purchasing an additional 1,857 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 5.5% in the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 4,196 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $2,076,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the period. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 40.9% during the 1st quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 25,170 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $12,452,000 after acquiring an additional 7,308 shares during the period. Creekmur Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 11.9% in the 1st quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 706 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $349,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 8.1% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 26,920 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $13,314,000 after purchasing an additional 2,018 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stephens dropped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $632.00 to $605.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $591.00 to $644.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $615.53.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $605.53 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $582.96 and a 200 day moving average of $553.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $557.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $436.38 and a 12 month high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.00 by $0.15. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The company had revenue of $100.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.56 EPS. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.6 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 54.72%.

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.