Ellenbecker Investment Group Purchases 233 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Ellenbecker Investment Group increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 5.8% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,280 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 233 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group makes up about 0.4% of Ellenbecker Investment Group’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Ellenbecker Investment Group’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $2,242,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Waycross Partners LLC increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Waycross Partners LLC now owns 27,794 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $14,060,000 after buying an additional 658 shares during the last quarter. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth about $515,000. Full Sail Capital LLC boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Full Sail Capital LLC now owns 1,612 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $815,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Soros Fund Management LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth about $39,413,000. Finally, Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 47.8% during the fourth quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 38,796 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $19,625,000 after purchasing an additional 12,550 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $405.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $552.00 to $353.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Argus lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. TD Cowen lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $308.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $450.00 to $400.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $428.43.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley purchased 86,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were bought at an average price of $288.57 per share, for a total transaction of $25,019,019.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 679,493 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,081,295.01. This trade represents a 14.63% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,533 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $320.80 per share, for a total transaction of $491,786.40. Following the purchase, the director now owns 6,033 shares in the company, valued at $1,935,386.40. This represents a 34.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $303.89 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $248.88 and a 52 week high of $630.73. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $399.88 and its 200 day moving average is $479.36. The company has a market cap of $275.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.61, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.45.

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

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $2.21 per share. This is an increase from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is presently 37.02%.

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.