UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Acquired by ERn Financial LLC

ERn Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 0.9% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,784 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the quarter. ERn Financial LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,377,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 27.1% in the 1st quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC now owns 2,319 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,147,000 after buying an additional 495 shares during the period. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 4.7% in the first quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,814 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $897,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Agate Pass Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 25.2% during the 1st quarter. Agate Pass Investment Management LLC now owns 497 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $246,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Signet Financial Management LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. Signet Financial Management LLC now owns 725 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $358,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 6.3% during the first quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 5,512 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $2,727,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $545.00 to $562.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. HSBC raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $580.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $525.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $579.74.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UNH opened at $486.50 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $447.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $498.30 and a 200-day moving average of $502.61. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $554.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.63 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $99.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.23 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.50% and a net margin of 4.05%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $6.26 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.57 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th were paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. This is a positive change from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.88. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 17th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.73%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is 51.34%.

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.