Sentry Investment Management LLC Decreases Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Sentry Investment Management LLC lessened its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 42.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,983 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 2,184 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group accounts for 0.7% of Sentry Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,509,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 20.8% in the fourth quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 22,911 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $11,590,000 after purchasing an additional 3,948 shares during the period. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth about $1,459,000. Impax Asset Management Group plc purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $700,000. Quartz Partners LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Quartz Partners LLC now owns 482 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $244,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Edge Capital Group LLC grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC now owns 2,700 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,366,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Truist Financial lowered their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Stephens increased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. StockNews.com upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $629.32.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,302,065. The trade was a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE UNH opened at $461.09 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $424.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $436.38 and a 12-month high of $630.73. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $518.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $559.70.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. The business 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 company’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.83 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.82%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.19%.

About UnitedHealth Group

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.