Dash Acquisitions Inc. Acquires 48 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Dash Acquisitions Inc. grew its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 8.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 623 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the quarter. Dash Acquisitions Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $335,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.7% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 46,313,751 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $22,260,241,000 after acquiring an additional 764,872 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.1% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,220,234 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $12,715,790,000 after acquiring an additional 527,526 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 15,635,038 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $8,289,386,000 after buying an additional 1,893,192 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 100,076.4% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,823,820 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,268,753,000 after buying an additional 11,812,017 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 11,749,819 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $5,647,433,000 after buying an additional 399,739 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE UNH traded down $4.14 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $485.93. 2,785,615 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,144,438. The firm has a market capitalization of $447.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.54. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $445.68 and a 52 week high of $554.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $504.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $518.70.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 12th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.98 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $94.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $92.13 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.39% and a net margin of 6.02%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.34 EPS. Analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.82 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a $1.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $7.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 31.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total value of $597,581.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,527,306.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total value of $597,581.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,527,306.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total value of $451,127.82. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,289 shares in the company, valued at $16,977,233.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $551.00 target price for the company. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $605.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. HSBC reaffirmed a “reduce” rating and set a $480.00 price objective (down previously from $550.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Monday, December 18th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $610.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Thursday, November 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $591.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $579.33.

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.