Gouws Capital LLC Purchases 439 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Gouws Capital LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 8,450 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 439 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group comprises approximately 3.6% of Gouws Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Gouws Capital LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $4,449,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of UNH. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 100,076.4% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,823,820 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $6,268,753,000 after acquiring an additional 11,812,017 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth $5,210,004,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1,682.4% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,691,542 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,372,606,000 after acquiring an additional 2,540,538 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 53,573.1% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,352,490 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,238,515,000 after acquiring an additional 2,348,107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 143.4% in the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,494,100 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,679,401,000 after purchasing an additional 2,058,829 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total value of $597,581.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,527,306.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total transaction of $597,581.28. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,527,306.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total transaction of $451,127.82. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,289 shares in the company, valued at $16,977,233.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $618.00 to $584.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $610.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $596.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Barclays began coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $551.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $605.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $578.62.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of UNH traded up $0.36 on Friday, hitting $455.74. 5,718,412 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,919,031. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $445.68 and a one year high of $554.70. The company has a market capitalization of $420.16 billion, a PE ratio of 19.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.54. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $498.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $517.87.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 12th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.98 by $0.18. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 6.02% and a return on equity of 26.39%. The business had revenue of $94.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.13 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.34 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $1.88 per share. This represents a $7.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.54%.

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.