UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Acquired by Reliant Investment Management LLC

Reliant Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 2.2% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 11,533 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group makes up 2.7% of Reliant Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Reliant Investment Management LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $5,705,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in UNH. Richelieu Gestion SA acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. CGC Financial Services LLC grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1,000.0% in the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 55 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 148.1% in the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 67 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UNH has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $534.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $591.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $545.00 to $562.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, StockNews.com cut UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $579.74.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 4.7 %

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $509.26 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $436.38 and a one year high of $554.70. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $498.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $501.96. The company has a market capitalization of $468.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.13, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.63 by $0.28. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.50% and a net margin of 4.05%. The firm had revenue of $99.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $6.26 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a $2.10 dividend. This is an increase from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.88. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 17th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.34%.

UnitedHealth Group 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.