Burling Wealth Partners LLC Acquires Shares of 9,369 UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Burling Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 9,369 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $4,740,000. UnitedHealth Group makes up approximately 1.0% of Burling Wealth Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,956,219 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $10,068,869,000 after purchasing an additional 319,515 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,616,007 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $7,899,905,000 after acquiring an additional 906,365 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $6,375,744,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,923,770 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,514,178,000 after purchasing an additional 861,854 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,931,478 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,012,218,000 after buying an additional 36,394 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE UNH opened at $428.25 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $506.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $537.23. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $417.12 and a one year high of $630.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $391.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.63, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.29 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.91 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 35.18%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Argus downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Mizuho upped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $700.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $664.00 to $563.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $604.67.

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.