UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Holdings Decreased by Wealth Forward LLC

Wealth Forward LLC cut its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 20.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,012 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 255 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group makes up approximately 0.4% of Wealth Forward LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Wealth Forward LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $512,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. State Street Corp grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,540,102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $26,626,387,000 after buying an additional 563,554 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,636,704 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $11,440,133,000 after purchasing an additional 318,039 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,061,916 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,884,019,000 after buying an additional 193,800 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 78,814.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,296,737 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,096,896,000 after acquiring an additional 5,290,025 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,197,167 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,869,320,000 after purchasing an additional 107,097 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UNH has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $627.74.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,302,065. This represents a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of UNH stock opened at $543.41 on Tuesday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $436.38 and a 12-month high of $630.73. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $541.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $564.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company has a market capitalization of $500.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.62.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. The company 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 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The business’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.83 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.55%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 54.19%.

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.