Parkman Healthcare Partners LLC Purchases Shares of 20,000 UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Parkman Healthcare Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 20,000 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $10,117,000. UnitedHealth Group comprises approximately 1.3% of Parkman Healthcare Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. NewSquare Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $640.00 to $600.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $525.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Argus lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $652.00 to $525.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $642.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Four equities 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, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $596.86.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 17.8%

UNH stock opened at $311.23 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $482.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $519.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $309.10 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $282.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.08, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56.

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

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.18%.

UnitedHealth Group Company Profile

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.