Gardner Lewis Asset Management L P Invests $797,000 in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Gardner Lewis Asset Management L P acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,575 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $797,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. DnB Asset Management AS lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 270,758 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $136,966,000 after acquiring an additional 23,391 shares in the last quarter. Alerus Financial NA lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 115.3% in the fourth quarter. Alerus Financial NA now owns 15,093 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $7,635,000 after purchasing an additional 8,082 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 25.7% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,040,985 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $526,593,000 after purchasing an additional 212,785 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 719,725 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $364,080,000 after buying an additional 44,801 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Broadway Wealth Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at $570,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays lowered their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. HSBC raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

NYSE:UNH opened at $515.89 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $508.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $545.16. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $436.38 and a one year high of $630.73. 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 stock has a market cap of $471.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.28, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The firm had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.83 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is 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.