AlphaQuest LLC Has $342,000 Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

AlphaQuest LLC lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 187.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 676 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 441 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $342,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. NewSquare Capital LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,302,065. This trade represents a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNH has been the subject of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Stephens lifted their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $488.52 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $511.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $550.33. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $436.38 and a one year high of $630.73. The company has a market capitalization of $446.85 billion, a PE ratio of 31.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.83 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.72%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.19%.

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.