Farallon Capital Management LLC Boosts Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Farallon Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 33.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,462,500 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 364,600 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group accounts for approximately 3.8% of Farallon Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Farallon Capital Management LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $739,820,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in UNH. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 11.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,778,636 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,039,933,000 after purchasing an additional 180,479 shares during the period. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 26,283 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $13,296,000 after buying an additional 2,137 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 2,139 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,086,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC now owns 2,122 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,073,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CCM Investment Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC now owns 32,346 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $16,363,000 after buying an additional 2,288 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Hsbc Global Res cut UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $525.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $664.00 to $563.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Argus lowered UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Erste Group Bank lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $596.86.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $385.74 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $351.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.89, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $489.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $523.90. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $385.37 and a one year high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.29 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $6.91 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is presently 35.18%.

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.