UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Acquired by Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc.

Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 30.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 657 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the period. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $384,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Tealwood Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,905,000. Asset Planning Services Inc. LA ADV boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1.2% during the third quarter. Asset Planning Services Inc. LA ADV now owns 12,465 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $7,288,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 24,976 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $14,603,000 after acquiring an additional 3,006 shares during the last quarter. Americana Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 10.8% during the third quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 20,377 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $11,914,000 after purchasing an additional 1,984 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Concord Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the first quarter valued at $14,544,000. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on UNH. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $604.00 to $603.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $597.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. KeyCorp started coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, October 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $675.00 price target for the company. Hsbc Global Res lowered UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $615.53.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $566.00 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $522.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $436.38 and a 12 month high of $608.63. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $581.96 and a 200-day moving average of $542.45.

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

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

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

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.