Mizuho Securities USA LLC Has $44.12 Million Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 45.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 87,222 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 27,343 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group accounts for about 0.8% of Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $44,122,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. ZEGA Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,358,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $360,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth $124,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth $371,000. Finally, One Charles Private Wealth Services LLC increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. One Charles Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 618 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $313,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 1.3 %

NYSE UNH opened at $517.72 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $436.38 and a 1-year high of $630.73. The company has a market cap of $473.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.40, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company has a 50 day moving average of $510.19 and a 200-day moving average of $547.47.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The business had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.83 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.62%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.19%.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,302,065. This represents a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on UNH shares. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. HSBC upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $629.32.

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.