Royal Fund Management LLC Has $2.87 Million Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Royal Fund Management LLC boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 5.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,458 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 273 shares during the period. Royal Fund Management LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $2,874,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bray Capital Advisors increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bray Capital Advisors now owns 9,616 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,848,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Litman Gregory Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $11,680,000. Live Oak Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Live Oak Private Wealth LLC now owns 23,212 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $11,703,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.6% during the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,083 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $546,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 131,333 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $66,217,000 after buying an additional 6,777 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UNH has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com cut UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $525.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $675.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $610.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $570.05.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly 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 available through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of the firm’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 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 available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,364 shares in the company, 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.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:UNH traded down $0.52 on Friday, reaching $492.45. 2,487,811 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,130,659. The stock has a market capitalization of $453.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.55. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $436.38 and a 52 week high of $554.70. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $482.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $512.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.63 by $0.28. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 4.05% and a return on equity of 26.50%. The firm had revenue of $99.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.23 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $6.26 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.