Altman Advisors Inc. Buys New Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Altman Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 3,056 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $1,787,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of UNH. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 6,458 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,777,000 after acquiring an additional 319 shares during the period. Hilton Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.7% in the third quarter. Hilton Capital Management LLC now owns 16,005 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $9,358,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares during the last quarter. NS Partners Ltd increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. NS Partners Ltd now owns 81,666 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $47,748,000 after buying an additional 1,330 shares during the period. MWA Asset Management lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. MWA Asset Management now owns 3,716 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,173,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Finally, Strategy Asset Managers LLC increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 269.2% in the third quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 9,755 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $5,703,000 after acquiring an additional 7,113 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of UNH opened at $583.62 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $537.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.59, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.58. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $582.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $551.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $436.38 and a twelve month high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.00 by $0.15. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The firm had revenue of $100.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $6.56 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.44%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. KeyCorp started coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $675.00 price target for the company. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Stephens decreased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $632.00 to $605.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $615.53.

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.