O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Buys 6,813 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 119,351 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,813 shares during the quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $60,375,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of UNH. Howard Capital Management Group LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter worth $341,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 11.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,778,636 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,039,933,000 after buying an additional 180,479 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 129.7% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,029,540 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $601,951,000 after acquiring an additional 581,324 shares during the period. L.M. Kohn & Company boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. L.M. Kohn & Company now owns 5,037 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $2,945,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter valued at about $4,522,000. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays decreased 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $650.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $629.32.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,302,065. This trade represents a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 0.0 %

NYSE:UNH opened at $515.47 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $471.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.26, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $508.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $544.24. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $436.38 and a 12 month high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.60 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.83 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s 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.