UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Stake Lifted by Arkadios Wealth Advisors

Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 23.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,320 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 2,143 shares during the quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors’ holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $6,618,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 84,405,255 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $41,755,280,000 after buying an additional 544,740 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,062,928 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $12,893,331,000 after acquiring an additional 94,641 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,039,601 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,094,247,000 after acquiring an additional 35,533 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 78,814.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,296,737 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,096,896,000 after acquiring an additional 5,290,025 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 30.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,816,254 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,942,956,000 after acquiring an additional 880,183 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $564.56 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $583.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $537.96. The company has a market cap of $521.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $608.63.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.00 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $100.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.14 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $6.56 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.72%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on UNH. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $481.00 to $647.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays cut their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $604.00 to $603.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Argus upped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, KeyCorp began coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, October 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $675.00 price objective for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $615.53.

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.