First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Purchases 4,602 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 50.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,766 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after acquiring an additional 4,602 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group makes up about 0.6% of First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.'s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.'s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $7,247,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bensler LLC increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bensler LLC now owns 7,293 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $3,677,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX now owns 1,695 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $855,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Tealwood Asset Management Inc. increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Tealwood Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,988 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $2,626,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. Atlas Private Wealth Advisors increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Atlas Private Wealth Advisors now owns 1,752 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $923,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. Finally, Prentice Wealth Management LLC increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,347 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $1,235,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on UNH. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $591.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $534.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. StockNews.com lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $610.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $570.05.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE:UNH traded up $0.41 on Wednesday, hitting $484.11. The stock had a trading volume of 2,623,945 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,444,623. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $554.70. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $484.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $513.42. The stock has a market cap of $445.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.85.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.63 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $99.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.23 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.50% and a net margin of 4.05%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $6.26 EPS. Analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $1.88 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $7.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.55%. UnitedHealth Group's payout ratio is currently 45.97%.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total transaction of $597,581.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,364 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,527,306.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total transaction of $451,127.82. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,289 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,977,233.31. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total value of $597,581.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,527,306.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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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