Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC Has $620,000 Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 11.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,226 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the period. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $620,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. NewSquare Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on UNH. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $563.00 to $374.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. HSBC reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $490.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Argus cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $510.00 to $356.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Raymond James lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $486.00.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 6.2%

NYSE:UNH opened at $291.24 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $470.82 and a 200 day moving average of $513.25. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $248.88 and a 52 week high of $630.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $264.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.29 by ($0.09). UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The company had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $6.91 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.88%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 35.18%.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, Director John H. Noseworthy purchased 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $312.16 per share, with a total value of $93,648.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 6,063 shares in the company, valued at $1,892,626.08. The trade was a 5.21% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Kristen Gil purchased 3,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $271.17 per share, for a total transaction of $1,003,329.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 3,818 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,035,327.06. The trade was a 3,135.59% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have bought 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

UnitedHealth Group 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.