Defined Financial Planning LLC Takes $544,000 Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Defined Financial Planning LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,076 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $544,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at $6,375,744,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at $1,914,740,000. Amundi raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 97.2% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 6,069,100 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,183,132,000 after acquiring an additional 2,991,470 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 76,830.4% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,888,641 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $955,388,000 after purchasing an additional 1,886,186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,923,770 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,514,178,000 after purchasing an additional 861,854 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,302,065. This trade represents a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on UNH. HSBC upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Barclays decreased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Twenty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $632.85.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

NYSE UNH opened at $599.10 on Monday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52-week low of $438.50 and a 52-week high of $630.73. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $512.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $541.80. The company has a market capitalization of $548.00 billion, a PE ratio of 38.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. The business 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.83 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors 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 1.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 54.19%.

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.