Scotia Capital Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Scotia Capital Inc. boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 10.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 470,936 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 45,328 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group makes up approximately 1.3% of Scotia Capital Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Scotia Capital Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $238,243,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of UNH. NewSquare Capital LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,302,065. This represents a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $700.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Twenty-one 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 MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $630.35.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

NYSE:UNH opened at $580.16 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $530.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.43, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $510.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $541.73. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year 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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.83 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 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.