Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Purchases 1,732 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 10.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 18,769 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 1,732 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group accounts for 0.8% of Verdence Capital Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $9,830,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth $6,375,744,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 56,142.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,295,153 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $4,344,586,000 after buying an additional 8,280,404 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 36.6% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,592,718 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $4,346,712,000 after buying an additional 2,301,010 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 12.5% in the fourth 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 during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,616,007 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $7,899,905,000 after buying an additional 906,365 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of UNH traded down $4.46 on Thursday, hitting $288.03. The company's stock had a trading volume of 14,738,720 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,770,851. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $308.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $436.45. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $248.88 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $261.28 billion, a PE ratio of 12.06, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.45.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $6.91 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $2.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.07%. This is an increase from UnitedHealth Group's previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio is 37.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,533 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were bought at an average price of $320.80 per share, with a total value of $491,786.40. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 6,033 shares in the company, valued at $1,935,386.40. This trade represents a 34.07% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kristen Gil purchased 3,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $271.17 per share, for a total transaction of $1,003,329.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 3,818 shares in the company, valued at $1,035,327.06. This trade represents a 3,135.59% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired a total of 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768 over the last 90 days. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on UNH. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $355.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Wall Street Zen lowered UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $521.00 to $362.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Argus lowered UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $414.35.

About UnitedHealth Group

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.