Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Grows Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 35,970 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group accounts for 1.1% of Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $21,031,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 20.6% in the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 10,867 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $5,376,000 after purchasing an additional 1,857 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 4,196 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $2,076,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 49.5% during the first quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,708 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,308,000 after purchasing an additional 2,883 shares in the last quarter. WP Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. WP Advisors LLC now owns 4,858 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $2,403,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Miramar Capital LLC raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2,089.5% in the first quarter. Miramar Capital LLC now owns 21,698 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $10,870,000 after buying an additional 20,707 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on UNH. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $481.00 to $647.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $615.53.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of UNH opened at $622.00 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $572.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.58. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $436.38 and a twelve month high of $630.73. The company has a 50 day moving average of $582.63 and a 200-day moving average of $546.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.00 by $0.15. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The business had revenue of $100.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $6.56 earnings per share. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.72%.

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.