UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH Shares Purchased by Inspire Advisors LLC

Inspire Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 12.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,840 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the period. Inspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $574,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 1st quarter worth $3,846,764,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,729,585 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $47,519,620,000 after purchasing an additional 5,583,343 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 10.6% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,847,940 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $13,537,859,000 after purchasing an additional 2,486,839 shares during the period. Davis Selected Advisers grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2,234.9% during the 2nd quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 1,132,885 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $353,426,000 after acquiring an additional 1,084,366 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 137.8% in the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,641,177 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $859,518,000 after purchasing an additional 950,928 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 1.4%

UNH opened at $309.19 on Thursday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $234.60 and a twelve month high of $622.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market cap of $280.08 billion, a PE ratio of 16.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.47. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $346.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $317.57.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $2.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.87 by $0.05. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 19.23% and a net margin of 4.04%.The company had revenue of $113.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $113.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $7.15 earnings per share. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 8th will be given a dividend of $2.21 per share. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 8th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on UNH shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $267.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $286.00 to $408.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $310.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $397.12.

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.