Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc Purchases New Stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,062 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock, valued at approximately $1,080,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NewSquare Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,533 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $320.80 per share, with a total value of $491,786.40. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 6,033 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,935,386.40. The trade was a 34.07% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director John H. Noseworthy acquired 300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $312.16 per share, for a total transaction of $93,648.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 6,063 shares in the company, valued at $1,892,626.08. This represents a 5.21% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have acquired 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Truist Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $360.00 price objective (down from $580.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $552.00 to $353.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group to $350.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $400.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $510.00 to $356.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $428.43.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 1.6%

NYSE:UNH traded down $4.77 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $295.61. 12,427,990 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,936,590. The company has a market capitalization of $268.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $248.88 and a twelve month high of $630.73. 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 company's 50 day moving average is $418.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $488.12.

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

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $2.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.99%. This is a boost from UnitedHealth Group's previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.18%.

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.