Affinity Investment Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Affinity Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,364 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group accounts for 2.2% of Affinity Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Affinity Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $3,136,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 78,814.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,296,737 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,096,896,000 after acquiring an additional 5,290,025 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the first quarter worth about $1,117,462,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 107.8% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,306,729 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,141,113,000 after buying an additional 1,196,758 shares in the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $480,903,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 30.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,816,254 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,942,956,000 after purchasing an additional 880,183 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on UNH shares. TD Cowen lifted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Stephens lowered their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $632.00 to $605.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $591.00 to $644.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $615.53.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $567.56 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $436.38 and a 52 week high of $608.63. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $581.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $541.50. The firm has a market cap of $524.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.58.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.00 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $100.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.14 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 26.37%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $6.56 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 54.72%.

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.