Avantax Planning Partners Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Avantax Planning Partners Inc. increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 6.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,935 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. Avantax Planning Partners Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,991,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. NewSquare Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,302,065. The trade was a 28.57 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNH has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. HSBC upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $700.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Truist Financial cut their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of UNH opened at $486.54 on Wednesday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $436.38 and a twelve month high of $630.73. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $512.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $552.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $445.04 billion, a PE ratio of 31.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 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 (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The company had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.83 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

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

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.