3Chopt Investment Partners LLC Acquires New Shares in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

3Chopt Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,044 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock, valued at approximately $1,071,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Financial Management Professionals Inc. increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 2,224 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $1,165,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Richwood Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Richwood Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,247 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $2,654,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 28.6% in the first quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 90 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,135 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $1,080,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Planning Group LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 5.1% in the first quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC now owns 430 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $225,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on UNH shares. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $400.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Wolfe Research dropped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $501.00 to $390.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. HSBC restated a "reduce" rating and set a $270.00 price target (down from $490.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $521.00 to $362.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $515.00 to $350.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $415.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director John H. Noseworthy bought 300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was bought at an average price of $312.16 per share, for a total transaction of $93,648.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,063 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,892,626.08. The trade was a 5.21% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kristen Gil bought 3,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $271.17 per share, with a total value of $1,003,329.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,818 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,035,327.06. The trade was a 3,135.59% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have bought 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

NYSE UNH traded up $6.23 during trading on Friday, reaching $308.85. 13,584,804 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,404,577. The company has a market cap of $280.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $248.88 and a 1-year high of $630.73. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $336.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $453.97.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.29 by ($0.09). UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.29% and a net margin of 5.39%. The business had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $6.91 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $2.21 per share. This is an increase from UnitedHealth Group's previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 37.02%.

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.