Prentice Wealth Management LLC Purchases 115 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Prentice Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 4.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,462 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,218,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,802,231,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 53,573.1% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,352,490 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,238,515,000 after purchasing an additional 2,348,107 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 49.3% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,617,813 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,904,670,000 after buying an additional 1,195,352 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 35.9% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 3,090,986 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,627,311,000 after acquiring an additional 815,822 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3,464.9% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 825,311 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $434,501,000 after purchasing an additional 802,160 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock traded up $2.08 on Wednesday, hitting $486.58. The company had a trading volume of 1,592,151 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,146,231. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $498.20 and a 200-day moving average of $502.75. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $554.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $447.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.63 by $0.28. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.50% and a net margin of 4.05%. The company had revenue of $99.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.23 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $6.26 earnings per share. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.57 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 17th were paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. This is a boost from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.88. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 17th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on UNH. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $596.00 to $555.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. HSBC raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $580.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $591.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $534.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $579.74.

UnitedHealth Group Company 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.