Southland Equity Partners LLC Buys New Shares in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Southland Equity Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 440 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $223,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. Dark Forest Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 76.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 734 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $374,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares in the last quarter. Matrix Private Capital Group LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.6% during the second quarter. Matrix Private Capital Group LLC now owns 542 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $276,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Scientech Research LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,071,000. Sepio Capital LP increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sepio Capital LP now owns 5,822 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,965,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 6.6% during the second quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc now owns 16,134 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $8,216,000 after purchasing an additional 994 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,302,065. This trade represents a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $700.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $650.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $627.74.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $532.26 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $542.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $563.54. The company has a market capitalization of $489.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.34, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $436.38 and a twelve month high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted 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. The company had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.83 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 54.19%.

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.