Avalon Trust Co Has $1.39 Million Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Avalon Trust Co grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,755 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 152 shares during the quarter. Avalon Trust Co’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,394,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. one8zero8 LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $4,286,000. Choate Investment Advisors increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Choate Investment Advisors now owns 46,944 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $23,750,000 after acquiring an additional 3,742 shares during the period. Diversified Enterprises LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Enterprises LLC now owns 3,793 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,919,000 after acquiring an additional 441 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 745,428 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $377,082,000 after acquiring an additional 2,493 shares during the period. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 16,863 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $8,530,000 after acquiring an additional 759 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UNH has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th. Stephens lifted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. HSBC raised 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. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 1.5 %

NYSE:UNH opened at $488.52 on Friday. 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 52-week low of $436.38 and a 52-week high of $630.73. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $511.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $550.07. The company has a market cap of $446.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $101.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.83 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued 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 is Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.19%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,302,065. This trade represents a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.