Carnegie Investment Counsel Increases Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Carnegie Investment Counsel grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,612 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Carnegie Investment Counsel’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $13,462,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,784 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $6,467,000 after purchasing an additional 1,668 shares in the last quarter. MPS Loria Financial Planners LLC grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. MPS Loria Financial Planners LLC now owns 7,229 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,657,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Paradigm Strategies in Wealth Management LLC raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 28.1% during the fourth quarter. Paradigm Strategies in Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,116 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $565,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP now owns 2,797 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,415,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Flywheel Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $287,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 6.0 %

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $511.02 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $553.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $562.98. The stock has a market cap of $470.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.62. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $436.38 and a twelve month high of $630.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.83 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.64%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on UNH shares. UBS Group cut their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $675.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $626.79.

UnitedHealth Group Company 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.