Baird Financial Group Inc. Grows Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 416,151 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after acquiring an additional 18,290 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $210,515,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,778,636 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $1,039,933,000 after purchasing an additional 180,479 shares during the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 48.4% during the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 9,350 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $4,730,000 after acquiring an additional 3,050 shares during the last quarter. Kings Path Partners LLC lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Kings Path Partners LLC now owns 3,300 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $1,669,000 after purchasing an additional 338 shares in the last quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 818 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $414,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. now owns 3,848 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $1,947,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock traded up $4.89 during trading on Monday, hitting $404.81. 8,146,436 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,625,259. The stock has a market cap of $368.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $494.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $527.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $393.11 and a 12-month high of $630.73.

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

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 35.18%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UNH has been the topic of several recent research reports. Erste Group Bank cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Oppenheimer cut their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $640.00 to $600.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. KeyCorp lowered their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $650.00 to $575.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $640.00 to $510.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $596.86.

UnitedHealth Group Company 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.