Barings LLC Purchases 643 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Barings LLC raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 10.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,803 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 643 shares during the period. Barings LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $3,441,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,053 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,039,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 97.2% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 6,069,100 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,183,132,000 after purchasing an additional 2,991,470 shares during the last quarter. Permanent Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at $729,000. Finally, Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 45,126 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $22,827,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UNH opened at $493.35 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $451.28 billion, a PE ratio of 31.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $513.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $553.57. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $436.38 and a 12-month high of $630.73.

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

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.70%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 54.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UNH has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Stephens raised their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays decreased their target price 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. StockNews.com raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. 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. Finally, HSBC raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $629.32.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,302,065. This trade represents a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.