Madison Investment Advisors LLC Invests $19.03 Million in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 37,613 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $19,027,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $341,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 11.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,778,636 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,039,933,000 after acquiring an additional 180,479 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 4.2% during the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 6,599 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,858,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the period. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 32.3% during the third quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 941 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $550,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares during the period. Finally, First Heartland Consultants Inc. lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 3.7% during the third quarter. First Heartland Consultants Inc. now owns 1,166 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $682,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE UNH opened at $481.18 on Thursday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $436.38 and a 1-year high of $630.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $512.33 and a 200-day moving average of $551.50. The firm has a market cap of $440.14 billion, a PE ratio of 31.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. UnitedHealth Group’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 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.75%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UNH has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Stephens lifted their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $700.00 price target 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $629.32.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price 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 ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.