Brown Financial Advisors Buys New Shares in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Brown Financial Advisors bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 5,691 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $2,898,000. UnitedHealth Group makes up 1.3% of Brown Financial Advisors’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Edge Capital Group LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC now owns 2,906 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,530,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 15,122,203 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $7,961,369,000 after acquiring an additional 324,733 shares in the last quarter. Amussen Hunsaker Associates LLC purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $203,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 365.3% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 142,228 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $74,879,000 after buying an additional 111,659 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alapocas Investment Partners Inc. lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Alapocas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 14,982 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $7,888,000 after buying an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 2,851 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $569.88, for a total value of $1,624,727.88. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,501 shares in the company, valued at $16,812,029.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $579.03, for a total value of $868,545.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 7,785 shares in the company, valued at $4,507,748.55. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 2,851 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $569.88, for a total value of $1,624,727.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,812,029.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of UNH opened at $583.33 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $607.94. The business’s 50-day moving average is $580.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $525.71. The company has a market capitalization of $538.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.58.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.66 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $98.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $98.73 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.55% and a net margin of 3.66%. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $6.14 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.69 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $481.00 to $647.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group boosted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. HSBC boosted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $580.00 to $610.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Barclays boosted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $560.00 to $604.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, StockNews.com cut UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $614.17.

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.