Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Buys 83 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,881 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $5,777,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Delta Financial Group Inc. grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1.0% in the third quarter. Delta Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,650 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $965,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the period. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 40.0% in the second quarter. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC now owns 63 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Saxony Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Saxony Capital Management LLC now owns 530 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $270,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. GoalVest Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 3,124 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,591,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Finally, Fiduciary Group LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.5% during the second quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC now owns 3,695 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,882,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UNH stock traded up $0.48 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $558.25. 113,738 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,875,783. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $581.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $542.90. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52-week low of $436.38 and a 52-week high of $608.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.91. The company has a market cap of $515.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.24, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.58.

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

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.50%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UNH has been the subject of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $597.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Stephens lowered their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $632.00 to $605.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, StockNews.com cut UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $615.53.

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.