Elwood Capital Partners LP Makes New Investment in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Elwood Capital Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 4,837 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $2,447,000. UnitedHealth Group comprises approximately 2.4% of Elwood Capital Partners LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. NewSquare Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter worth $57,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on UNH. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $700.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $650.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $629.32.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,302,065. This trade represents a 28.57 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $524.48 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $479.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $509.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $543.47.

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. The firm had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The company’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.83 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is presently 54.19%.

UnitedHealth Group 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.