Riverpark Capital Management LLC Grows Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH

Riverpark Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,960 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the quarter. Riverpark Capital Management LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $923,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position 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 worth $47,519,620,000 after buying an additional 5,583,343 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 10.6% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.3% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,312,182 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $6,624,411,000 after buying an additional 675,075 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6.1% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,502,469 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $2,340,346,000 after buying an additional 432,084 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 1st quarter worth about $3,846,764,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $326.23 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $343.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $315.01. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $234.60 and a fifty-two week 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 stock has a market cap of $295.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.47.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its 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. The company had revenue of $113.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $113.19 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 4.04% and a return on equity of 19.23%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $7.15 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 8th will be given a dividend of $2.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 8th. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on UNH shares. Robert W. Baird reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $198.00 target price (down previously from $312.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $325.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $333.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $406.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $352.00 to $386.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Eighteen 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.