Clarius Group LLC Purchases 441 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Clarius Group LLC raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 7,053 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 441 shares during the period. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $3,568,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,540,102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $26,626,387,000 after purchasing an additional 563,554 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,636,704 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $11,440,133,000 after buying an additional 318,039 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,061,916 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,884,019,000 after acquiring an additional 193,800 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 78,814.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,296,737 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,096,896,000 after purchasing an additional 5,290,025 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,772,487 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,920,039,000 after purchasing an additional 21,149 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $510.03 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $436.38 and a twelve month high of $630.73. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $549.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $562.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $469.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.62. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The firm had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.83 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.6 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were given a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.65%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is 54.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday. HSBC raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of 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, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $700.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $627.74.

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.