Canopy Partners LLC Grows Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Canopy Partners LLC raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 17.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,244 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 794 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group comprises about 1.0% of Canopy Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Canopy Partners LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $2,653,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 902 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $456,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the period. MCF Advisors LLC raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 2,578 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,304,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC now owns 575 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $291,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Richwood Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Richwood Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,247 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,654,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 44 Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,309 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $662,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UNH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $650.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $629.32.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was bought 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 represents a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 2.9 %

Shares of UNH stock opened at $524.94 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $480.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.87, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $436.38 and a twelve month high of $630.73. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $509.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $541.85.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its 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. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The firm had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.83 EPS. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend 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.