Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. Buys 1,703 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 53,704 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 1,703 shares during the quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC.'s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $27,167,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth about $6,375,744,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,914,740,000. Amundi raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 97.2% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 6,069,100 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $3,183,132,000 after acquiring an additional 2,991,470 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 76,830.4% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,888,641 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $955,388,000 after acquiring an additional 1,886,186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,503,671 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $4,807,527,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058,488 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, Director John H. Noseworthy purchased 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was bought at an average price of $312.16 per share, with a total value of $93,648.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,063 shares in the company, valued at $1,892,626.08. The trade was a 5.21% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,533 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $320.80 per share, with a total value of $491,786.40. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 6,033 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,935,386.40. The trade was a 34.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders acquired 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 8.2%

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $315.80 on Tuesday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $248.88 and a 1 year high of $630.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market cap of $286.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.37, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56. The firm's 50-day moving average is $467.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $511.49.

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

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.66%. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.18%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on UNH. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Bank of America cut UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $560.00 to $350.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. TD Cowen downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $308.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday. Argus cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $515.00 to $350.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $454.23.

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.

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