Alcosta Capital Management Inc. Has $4.40 Million Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Alcosta Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,692 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group comprises approximately 2.6% of Alcosta Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Alcosta Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $4,397,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $341,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,778,636 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,039,933,000 after acquiring an additional 180,479 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $319,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.6% in the third quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 86,650 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $50,662,000 after purchasing an additional 2,999 shares during the period. Finally, Hendershot Investments Inc. lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.8% during the third quarter. Hendershot Investments Inc. now owns 41,575 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $24,308,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on UNH. StockNews.com raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays reduced their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $629.32.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 2.9 %

UNH opened at $524.94 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market cap of $480.17 billion, a PE ratio of 33.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a fifty day moving average of $509.24 and a 200-day moving average of $542.12. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $436.38 and a twelve month high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.83 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 54.19%.

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.