Impax Asset Management Group plc Invests $700,000 in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Impax Asset Management Group plc purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 1,383 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $700,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of UNH. Accredited Investors Inc. boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 9,235.4% in the third quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 784,924 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $458,929,000 after buying an additional 776,516 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 129.7% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,029,540 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $601,951,000 after buying an additional 581,324 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,540,102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $26,626,387,000 after buying an additional 563,554 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $276,785,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 89.3% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 702,722 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $355,479,000 after purchasing an additional 331,539 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on UNH. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $700.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays lowered their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $629.32.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

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

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $470.49 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $432.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.35, a PEG 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. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $518.22 and a 200 day moving average of $559.08.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $100.81 billion during 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 period in the prior year, the business posted $5.83 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.19%.

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.