Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 67,950 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 315 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $34,373,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. NewSquare Capital LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

UNH stock opened at $486.54 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $445.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.39, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $512.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $552.00. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.83 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.83 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 54.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on UNH shares. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. One 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $629.32.

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.