Thompson Investment Management Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Thompson Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 2.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,347 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 315 shares during the quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $7,097,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. DLK Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.9% during the first quarter. DLK Investment Management LLC now owns 11,010 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $5,447,000 after buying an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. Von Berge Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 8.0% during the first quarter. Von Berge Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 658 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $325,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 13.8% in the first quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 25,098 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $12,416,000 after purchasing an additional 3,048 shares during the last quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 50.6% in the first quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 699 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $346,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mechanics Bank Trust Department increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 6.3% in the first quarter. Mechanics Bank Trust Department now owns 9,653 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,775,000 after purchasing an additional 575 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UNH has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. HSBC upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $580.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $607.00 to $546.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Barclays increased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $534.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Baird R W raised UnitedHealth Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $675.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $579.74.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UnitedHealth Group stock traded up $2.53 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $487.03. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,502,176 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,145,494. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $554.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $448.26 billion, a PE ratio of 29.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $498.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $502.75. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $99.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $6.26 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.57 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 17th were given a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 17th. This is a boost from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.88. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.34%.

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.