Emerald Advisors LLC Has $478,000 Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Emerald Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 20.6% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 912 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $478,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in UNH. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 176.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 44,249 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $22,384,000 after buying an additional 28,231 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 137.1% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,019 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,033,000 after buying an additional 2,324 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 263,655 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $133,373,000 after purchasing an additional 9,872 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth about $12,015,000. Finally, Sims Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth about $522,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on UNH shares. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $355.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 16th. HSBC reiterated a “reduce” rating and issued a $270.00 price objective (down from $490.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $405.00 to $418.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Robert W. Baird cut UnitedHealth Group from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $312.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, Bank of America cut UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $560.00 to $350.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $415.57.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 2.1%

NYSE:UNH opened at $308.85 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $248.88 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $280.17 billion, a PE ratio of 12.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.44. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $336.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $453.97.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.29 by ($0.09). UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 5.39% and a return on equity of 26.29%. The firm had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $6.91 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $2.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. This is a boost from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.02%.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,533 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $320.80 per share, for a total transaction of $491,786.40. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,033 shares in the company, valued at $1,935,386.40. The trade was a 34.07% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John H. Noseworthy bought 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were bought at an average price of $312.16 per share, with a total value of $93,648.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,892,626.08. This trade represents a 5.21% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased a total of 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

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.