SRS Capital Advisors Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 5.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,067 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,052,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 84,405,255 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $41,755,280,000 after acquiring an additional 544,740 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,062,928 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $12,893,331,000 after buying an additional 94,641 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 15,122,203 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $7,961,369,000 after buying an additional 324,733 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,860,985 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,244,158,000 after purchasing an additional 542,424 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $5,802,231,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $591.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Baird R W upgraded UnitedHealth Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. StockNews.com upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $614.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other UnitedHealth Group news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 2,851 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $569.88, for a total transaction of $1,624,727.88. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,812,029.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $579.03, for a total transaction of $868,545.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 7,785 shares in the company, valued at $4,507,748.55. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 2,851 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $569.88, for a total transaction of $1,624,727.88. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,501 shares in the company, valued at $16,812,029.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE:UNH traded up $1.39 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $596.88. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,926,369 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,070,939. The stock has a market capitalization of $551.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $558.98 and a 200-day moving average of $515.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52-week low of $436.38 and a 52-week high of $607.94.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.66 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $98.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $98.73 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.55% and a net margin of 3.66%. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $6.14 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.69 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 51.34%.

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.