Fermata Advisors LLC Purchases 755 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Fermata Advisors LLC grew its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 124.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,360 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 755 shares during the period. Fermata Advisors LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $688,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of UNH. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the second quarter valued at $228,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,323,000. Sienna Gestion boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2,619.2% during the second quarter. Sienna Gestion now owns 21,074 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $10,727,000 after acquiring an additional 20,299 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 963.5% during the second quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 411,381 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $209,500,000 after purchasing an additional 372,701 shares during the period. Finally, Miramar Capital LLC boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter. Miramar Capital LLC now owns 23,325 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $11,878,000 after purchasing an additional 1,627 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on UNH. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $675.00 price target for the company. UBS Group cut their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $626.79.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $511.02 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $553.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $562.98. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $436.38 and a 12 month high of $630.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company has a market capitalization of $470.28 billion, a PE ratio of 33.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.62.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 26.37%. The firm had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.60 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.83 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.6 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is 54.72%.

UnitedHealth Group Company 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.