Vista Investment Partners II LLC Takes $257,000 Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Vista Investment Partners II LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 508 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $257,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. NewSquare Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UNH has been the topic of a number of research reports. Hsbc Global Res raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Stephens lifted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $629.32.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $493.35 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $451.28 billion, a PE ratio of 31.83, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $513.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $553.39. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52-week low of $436.38 and a 52-week high of $630.73. 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 released its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $100.81 billion for 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 company’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 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.70%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 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.