E Fund Management Co. Ltd. Acquires 235 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 14.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,865 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $982,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in UNH. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 16,941 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $8,919,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. Ascension Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $216,000. Bellecapital International Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Bellecapital International Ltd. now owns 13,823 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $7,277,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 34,297 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $17,292,000 after acquiring an additional 1,884 shares during the period. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 326.0% during the 4th quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 213 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $112,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total value of $597,581.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,527,306.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total value of $597,581.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,527,306.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, 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 value of $451,127.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,977,233.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UNH has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $605.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Thursday, February 8th. StockNews.com cut UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $618.00 to $584.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $534.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $570.05.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE UNH traded up $2.25 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $503.21. 2,922,430 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,362,104. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $436.38 and a 1-year high of $554.70. The firm has a market cap of $462.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $481.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $511.98.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.63 by $0.28. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.50% and a net margin of 4.05%. The business had revenue of $99.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.23 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $6.26 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th were given a dividend of $1.88 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $7.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.49%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 45.97%.

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.