William Blair Investment Management LLC Boosts Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 8.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 662,775 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 50,945 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group makes up 0.8% of William Blair Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $335,271,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. M&T Bank Corp grew its position 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 valued at $128,975,000 after acquiring an additional 26,074 shares during the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 17.6% during the fourth quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,957 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,025,000 after purchasing an additional 1,193 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1,275.3% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter valued at about $21,165,000. Finally, Signal Advisors Wealth LLC raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 13.0% in 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 last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on UNH. StockNews.com upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $629.32.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $511.57 per share, with a total value 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. This trade represents a 28.57 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNH opened at $488.52 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $511.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $549.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $446.85 billion, a PE ratio of 31.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $630.73.

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

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.72%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.19%.

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.