Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co Buys 3,948 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 20.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 22,911 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,948 shares during the quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $11,590,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in UNH. M&T Bank Corp lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 220,590 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $128,975,000 after buying an additional 26,074 shares during the period. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,957 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,025,000 after acquiring an additional 1,193 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1,275.3% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 44,547 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $26,060,000 after purchasing an additional 41,308 shares during the period. Parsifal Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $21,165,000. Finally, Signal Advisors Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 9,115 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,611,000 after buying an additional 1,051 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNH opened at $461.09 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $518.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $559.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market cap of $424.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.83 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.82%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.19%.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,302,065. The trade was a 28.57 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $700.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $629.32.

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.