Benjamin Edwards Inc. Purchases 41,308 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 1,275.3% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 44,547 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 41,308 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $26,060,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of UNH. Atom Investors LP grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 5,098.1% in the 3rd quarter. Atom Investors LP now owns 21,676 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $12,674,000 after buying an additional 21,259 shares during the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 2.0% during the third quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 56,890 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $33,262,000 after acquiring an additional 1,089 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter worth $5,554,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $160,000. Finally, B&L Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter worth about $3,763,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on UNH. Hsbc Global Res downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Stephens cut their target price 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $618.26.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

UNH stock opened at $610.20 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $561.55 billion, a PE ratio of 39.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $585.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $556.65. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $100.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $6.56 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.6 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 54.72%.

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.