Mayfair Advisory Group LLC Purchases Shares of 428 UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Mayfair Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 428 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Waverly Advisors LLC raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 5,088 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,565,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the period. Hodges Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter worth $1,127,000. Kidder Stephen W increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 10.0% during the third quarter. Kidder Stephen W now owns 13,771 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $6,943,000 after acquiring an additional 1,251 shares during the period. Gateway Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Gateway Advisory LLC now owns 9,399 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,739,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the period. Finally, Provident Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.9% during the third quarter. Provident Investment Management Inc. now owns 88,459 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $44,600,000 after purchasing an additional 3,347 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 4.7 %

UNH opened at $509.26 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market cap of $468.72 billion, a PE ratio of 31.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a fifty day moving average of $498.34 and a 200-day moving average of $501.63. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $436.38 and a twelve month high of $554.70.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.63 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $99.80 billion during 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 business’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.26 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.55 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 17th were issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. This is a positive change 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%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 17th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 51.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $597.00 price objective on the stock. 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. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $591.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. StockNews.com cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $525.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $579.74.

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.