Rise Advisors LLC Acquires 481 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Rise Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 225.8% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 694 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 481 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $344,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in UNH. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth $5,802,231,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 53,573.1% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,352,490 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,238,515,000 after buying an additional 2,348,107 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 49.3% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,617,813 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,904,670,000 after buying an additional 1,195,352 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 35.9% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 3,090,986 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,627,311,000 after acquiring an additional 815,822 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 3,464.9% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 825,311 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $434,501,000 after purchasing an additional 802,160 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of UNH stock opened at $484.62 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $496.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $504.71. The company has a market capitalization of $446.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.62, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.58. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $436.38 and a one year high of $554.70.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.63 by $0.28. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.50% and a net margin of 4.05%. The company had revenue of $99.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.26 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be paid a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 17th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.73%. This is a boost from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.88. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is presently 51.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on UNH shares. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $607.00 to $546.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. StockNews.com cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Barclays increased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $534.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $525.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $579.74.

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.