Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV Buys 2,137 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 8.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,283 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 2,137 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group comprises approximately 1.5% of Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest position. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $13,296,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of UNH. VitalStone Financial LLC lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 600.0% during the second quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 70 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc. increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 11.1% in the 2nd quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc. now owns 1,054 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $537,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 161.3% during the second quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP now owns 8,414 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,285,000 after purchasing an additional 5,194 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.5% in the second quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 268,033 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $136,499,000 after purchasing an additional 1,363 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BOKF NA lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. BOKF NA now owns 66,217 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $33,722,000 after buying an additional 1,857 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on UNH shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, HSBC cut UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $627.58.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of UNH stock opened at $524.14 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $556.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $561.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $482.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52-week low of $436.38 and a 52-week high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.00 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $100.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.14 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 26.37%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $6.56 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 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.