Asio Capital LLC Increases Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Asio Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 7.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,898 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,052 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group makes up 1.6% of Asio Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Asio Capital LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $7,370,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth about $5,802,231,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 53,573.1% in the 4th 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 lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 49.3% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,617,813 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,904,670,000 after buying an additional 1,195,352 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 815,822 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3,464.9% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 825,311 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $434,501,000 after acquiring an additional 802,160 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on UNH shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $591.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $534.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $596.00 to $555.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $607.00 to $546.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $579.74.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $509.58 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $498.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $502.27. The company has a market cap of $469.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $554.70.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.63 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $99.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.23 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 4.05% and a return on equity of 26.50%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.57 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 17th were given a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 17th. This is an increase from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.88. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.65%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is presently 51.34%.

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.