Prio Wealth Limited Partnership Purchases New Stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Prio Wealth Limited Partnership bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 426 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $249,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of UNH. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Macroview Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 671.4% in the second quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 54 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 757.1% during the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 60 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 152.4% in the 3rd quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 53 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNH has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $481.00 to $647.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Argus increased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $615.58.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $571.46 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $584.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $535.49. The stock has a market cap of $527.70 billion, a PE ratio of 37.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $436.38 and a 12 month high of $608.63.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.00 by $0.15. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 26.37%. The company had revenue of $100.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.56 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.72%.

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.