Brookstone Capital Management Boosts Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Brookstone Capital Management boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 8.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 26,444 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,155 shares during the quarter. Brookstone Capital Management’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $13,377,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of UNH. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 220,590 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $128,975,000 after purchasing an additional 26,074 shares in the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 17.6% during the 4th quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,957 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,025,000 after purchasing an additional 1,193 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1,275.3% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 44,547 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $26,060,000 after purchasing an additional 41,308 shares in the last quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter worth $21,165,000. Finally, Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter worth $558,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 4.7 %

Shares of UNH traded up $24.45 during trading on Monday, reaching $545.14. 2,392,573 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,885,617. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $436.38 and a twelve month high of $630.73. The stock has a market cap of $501.68 billion, a PE ratio of 35.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.62. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $555.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $562.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

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

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.72%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on UNH. HSBC upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $626.79.

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.