Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 24.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,087 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 406 shares during the period. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,051,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,722 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $907,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Carret Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Carret Asset Management LLC now owns 6,586 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,467,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,242,000. Cumberland Partners Ltd increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 11.3% during the 4th quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd now owns 71,607 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $36,484,000 after buying an additional 7,263 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,441,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UNH traded up $1.12 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $487.30. 3,722,296 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,532,990. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $449.26 billion, a PE ratio of 29.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.54. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $486.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $514.57. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $436.38 and a 1-year high of $554.70.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.63 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $99.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.23 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 4.05% and a return on equity of 26.50%. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $6.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 11th were given a $1.88 dividend. This represents a $7.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.97%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total value of $597,581.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,364 shares in the company, valued at $4,527,306.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other UnitedHealth Group news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total transaction of $451,127.82. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,289 shares in the company, valued at $16,977,233.31. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total transaction of $597,581.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,527,306.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on UNH. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $525.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 8th. HSBC raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $460.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $610.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $545.00 to $562.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $605.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $570.05.

UnitedHealth Group Company 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.