GAMMA Investing LLC Buys 4,897 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 92.2% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 10,206 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,897 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group comprises about 0.7% of GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest position. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $5,198,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Davis Capital Management raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 29.1% in the second quarter. Davis Capital Management now owns 989 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $489,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the period. Park Place Capital Corp raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 4,251 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,165,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 10.2% during the 2nd quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 10,212 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $5,201,000 after purchasing an additional 948 shares during the period. Centre Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Centre Asset Management LLC now owns 8,994 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,580,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the period. Finally, Kathmere Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 17.0% during the 2nd quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 4,456 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,346,000 after purchasing an additional 646 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 3.0 %

UNH traded up $17.06 on Friday, reaching $589.83. 5,094,041 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,453,607. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $436.38 and a one year high of $591.54. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $514.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $502.99. The company has a market cap of $542.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.66 by $0.14. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.66% and a return on equity of 26.55%. The business had revenue of $98.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $98.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $6.14 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.69 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 17th were given a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 17th. This is an increase from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.88. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 51.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $579.03, for a total value of $868,545.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,507,748.55. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $579.03, for a total value of $868,545.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,507,748.55. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 2,851 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $569.88, for a total transaction of $1,624,727.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,812,029.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on UNH. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $546.00 to $601.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Argus raised their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. HSBC raised their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $580.00 to $610.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $597.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $614.17.

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.