Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. Buys 78 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 16.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 541 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $274,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Mystic Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 76.8% in the 4th quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,167 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $590,000 after buying an additional 507 shares in the last quarter. Argent Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Argent Advisors Inc. now owns 2,238 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,132,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Aspen Wealth Strategies LLC grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Aspen Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 1,775 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $898,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 662,775 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $335,271,000 after purchasing an additional 50,945 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cozad Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 22,709 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $11,488,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNH opened at $503.61 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $460.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $510.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $548.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $436.38 and a 12 month high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.83 earnings per share. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. HSBC upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Stephens upped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $700.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $629.32.

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.