Hartford Funds Management Co LLC Purchases 896 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Hartford Funds Management Co LLC raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 23.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,645 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 896 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group comprises 0.2% of Hartford Funds Management Co LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $2,446,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of UNH. Savant Capital LLC grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 17,448 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $9,186,000 after purchasing an additional 1,099 shares in the last quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 63,663 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $33,517,000 after acquiring an additional 1,205 shares during the last quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 128.0% during the fourth quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 8,687 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,573,000 after buying an additional 4,877 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 18,004 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $9,478,000 after acquiring an additional 2,365 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors now owns 13,722 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $7,224,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on UNH shares. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $607.00 to $546.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. HSBC raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $460.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $545.00 to $562.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $566.00 to $571.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $570.05.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

NYSE:UNH traded down $5.33 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $483.70. 3,366,904 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,466,545. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $436.38 and a 1-year high of $554.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $484.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $513.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $445.04 billion, a PE ratio of 29.57, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.54.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.63 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $99.80 billion for 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $6.26 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th were issued a $1.88 dividend. This represents a $7.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 45.97%.

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.