Magnetar Financial LLC Grows Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Magnetar Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 124.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 72,227 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 39,988 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $36,537,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. NewSquare Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UNH has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays cut 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. Stephens boosted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. StockNews.com upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 0.1 %

UNH opened at $503.05 on Thursday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $436.38 and a one year high of $630.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $460.14 billion, a PE ratio of 32.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $510.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $548.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 analysts’ expectations of $101.60 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.83 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.19%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,000 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,302,065. The trade was a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.