Farringdon Capital Ltd. Makes New $1.76 Million Investment in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Farringdon Capital Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 3,475 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $1,758,000. UnitedHealth Group accounts for approximately 0.7% of Farringdon Capital Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NewSquare Capital LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $585.30 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $516.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $542.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company has a market cap of $535.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $438.50 and a 1-year high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.83 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UNH has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, 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. Twenty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $632.85.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,302,065. This trade represents a 28.57 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.