Stokes Capital Advisors LLC Acquires 857 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Stokes Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 4.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,206 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 857 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group accounts for approximately 2.8% of Stokes Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Stokes Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $9,501,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 83,860,515 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $44,150,045,000 after purchasing an additional 250,291 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,220,234 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $12,715,790,000 after purchasing an additional 527,526 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 15,122,203 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $7,961,369,000 after acquiring an additional 324,733 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,860,985 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,244,158,000 after acquiring an additional 542,424 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $5,802,231,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UNH traded up $13.56 during trading on Friday, hitting $500.00. 2,468,387 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,134,631. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $436.38 and a twelve month high of $554.70. The company has a market cap of $460.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.61, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $498.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $502.61.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.63 by $0.28. The company 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 for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $6.26 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 17th were paid a $2.10 dividend. This is a boost from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.88. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 17th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.68%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 51.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on UNH. TD Cowen lowered their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $607.00 to $546.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Thursday, March 7th. StockNews.com cut UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $545.00 to $562.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded UnitedHealth Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $579.74.

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.