UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Bought by Olstein Capital Management L.P.

Olstein Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 26.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,200 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,200 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group comprises about 1.4% of Olstein Capital Management L.P.’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Olstein Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $7,689,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 7,139 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,611,000 after buying an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Insight Inv LLC grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 100.7% in the fourth quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 303 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $153,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Stewardship Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. Stewardship Advisors LLC now owns 637 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $322,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Running Oak Capital LLC boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. Running Oak Capital LLC now owns 23,264 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $11,768,000 after buying an additional 2,338 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nikulski Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Nikulski Financial Inc. now owns 11,832 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $5,985,000 after acquiring an additional 408 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UNH has been the subject of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Stephens boosted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. UBS Group dropped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $700.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $627.74.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,302,065. The trade was a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 0.5 %

UNH opened at $532.26 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $541.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $563.84. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $436.38 and a 52 week high of $630.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market cap of $489.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.62.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The business had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.83 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.74 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 54.19%.

UnitedHealth Group Company 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.