Clarity Financial LLC Purchases 36,403 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Clarity Financial LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 2,096.9% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 38,139 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 36,403 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group makes up about 2.9% of Clarity Financial LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Clarity Financial LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $18,867,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Northeast Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 62.6% during the 1st quarter. Northeast Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,300 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,127,000 after purchasing an additional 1,656 shares in the last quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 32.5% during the 1st quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY now owns 24,983 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $12,359,000 after purchasing an additional 6,135 shares in the last quarter. Aspiriant LLC increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 4.6% in the first quarter. Aspiriant LLC now owns 6,067 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,002,000 after acquiring an additional 266 shares during the period. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 24.8% in the first quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC now owns 3,150 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,558,000 after acquiring an additional 626 shares during the period. Finally, Aletheian Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 23.5% in the first quarter. Aletheian Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,463 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,219,000 after acquiring an additional 469 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on UNH. HSBC upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $580.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $596.00 to $555.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $566.00 to $571.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $618.00 to $584.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $591.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $579.74.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of UNH opened at $484.54 on Thursday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $436.38 and a 1-year high of $554.70. The stock has a market cap of $445.97 billion, a PE ratio of 29.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $498.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $502.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 4.05% and a return on equity of 26.50%. The business had revenue of $99.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $6.26 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.57 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 17th were paid a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 17th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.73%. This is an increase from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.88. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 51.34%.

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.