Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Buys 192,985 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 138.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 332,813 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 192,985 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $169,686,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. NewSquare Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Hsbc Global Res raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. HSBC raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $700.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price 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. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 2.1 %

NYSE:UNH opened at $499.01 on Tuesday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $436.38 and a one year high of $630.73. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $511.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $549.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $456.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.19, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.83 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.68%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.