Valmark Advisers Inc. Has $3.25 Million Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Valmark Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 6,178 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 326 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $3,252,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Robbins Farley acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter worth $25,000. Richelieu Gestion SA acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. CGC Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 1,000.0% in the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 55 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 340.0% in the third quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 66 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 148.1% in the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 67 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on UNH. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $545.00 to $562.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Barclays raised 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. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $525.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $596.00 to $555.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $570.05.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UNH traded up $1.49 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $495.35. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,727,016 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,623,667. The company has a market cap of $455.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.28, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $485.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $514.21. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52-week low of $436.38 and a 52-week high of $554.70.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 4.05% and a return on equity of 26.50%. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.26 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $1.88 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $7.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.97%.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total transaction of $451,127.82. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,289 shares in the company, valued at $16,977,233.31. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other UnitedHealth Group news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total transaction of $451,127.82. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,289 shares in the company, valued at $16,977,233.31. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 9,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,527,306.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.