Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Has $9.92 Million Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 16,957 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group makes up 0.8% of Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $9,915,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tealwood Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,905,000. Asset Planning Services Inc. LA ADV boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1.2% during the third quarter. Asset Planning Services Inc. LA ADV now owns 12,465 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $7,288,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 24,976 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $14,603,000 after acquiring an additional 3,006 shares in the last quarter. Americana Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 20,377 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $11,914,000 after purchasing an additional 1,984 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 14.8% in the second quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,960 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $5,072,000 after buying an additional 1,283 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on UNH shares. HSBC lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $675.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Argus raised their price objective 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. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $615.53.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of UNH stock opened at $616.33 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $567.20 billion, a PE ratio of 40.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $581.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $545.03. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $619.80.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.00 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $100.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.14 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $6.56 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.36%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.72%.

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.