Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC Grows Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH

Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 42.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,769 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,627 shares during the period. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $2,736,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of UNH. Caitlin John LLC grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 14.8% during the first quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 862 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $451,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 21.8% during the second quarter. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC now owns 4,425 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,380,000 after purchasing an additional 791 shares in the last quarter. Triumph Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the second quarter worth about $1,324,000. Wealth Effects LLC increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 14.4% in the second quarter. Wealth Effects LLC now owns 4,688 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,463,000 after purchasing an additional 591 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arlington Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the second quarter worth about $2,229,000. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $310.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Barclays lifted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $352.00 to $386.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. UBS Group raised their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $378.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $433.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $397.12.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 2.3%

Shares of NYSE:UNH opened at $333.87 on Tuesday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $234.60 and a 1 year high of $630.73. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $344.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $324.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $302.43 billion, a PE ratio of 17.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $2.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.87 by $0.05. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 19.23% and a net margin of 4.04%.The business had revenue of $113.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $113.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $7.15 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $2.21 per share. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.14%.

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.