Westbourne Investments Inc. Makes New Investment in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Westbourne Investments Inc. purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 865 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock, valued at approximately $438,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of UNH. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,956,219 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $10,068,869,000 after buying an additional 319,515 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,616,007 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $7,899,905,000 after purchasing an additional 906,365 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $6,375,744,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,503,671 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $4,807,527,000 after buying an additional 1,058,488 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,923,770 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $4,514,178,000 after buying an additional 861,854 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on UNH shares. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $664.00 to $563.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. HSBC reissued a "hold" rating and set a $490.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Raymond James reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and set a $540.00 price objective (down from $635.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $640.00 to $600.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $596.86.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UNH traded down $1.96 during trading on Friday, hitting $398.72. The company's stock had a trading volume of 11,384,114 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,602,580. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $495.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $528.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $362.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $393.31 and a 12 month high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $7.29 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.91 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group's payout ratio is 35.18%.

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.