Rafferty Asset Management LLC Buys 10,712 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 11.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 104,372 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after acquiring an additional 10,712 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $52,798,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of UNH. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,956,219 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $10,068,869,000 after purchasing an additional 319,515 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,616,007 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $7,899,905,000 after purchasing an additional 906,365 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth about $6,375,744,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 12.5% during 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 during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,923,770 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $4,514,178,000 after purchasing an additional 861,854 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company's stock.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of UNH stock traded up $16.89 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $291.24. 70,463,502 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,862,885. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $248.88 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73. The stock's fifty day moving average is $470.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $513.95. The company has a market cap of $264.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

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

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley bought 86,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $288.57 per share, with a total value of $25,019,019.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 679,493 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $196,081,295.01. This trade represents a 14.63% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,533 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $320.80 per share, with a total value of $491,786.40. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 6,033 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,935,386.40. This represents a 34.07% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNH has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. HSBC reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $490.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $700.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $355.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $677.00 to $351.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $486.00.

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.