UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Stake Reduced by Motco

Motco trimmed its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,548 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 129 shares during the period. Motco’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $9,383,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of UNH. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter worth approximately $37,000. DecisionPoint Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 155.0% in the 4th quarter. DecisionPoint Financial LLC now owns 102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $55,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter valued at $57,000. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on UNH shares. StockNews.com raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. HSBC raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNH opened at $469.11 on Friday. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $517.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $557.79. The company has a market cap of $431.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.26, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $436.38 and a twelve month high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The business’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.83 EPS. Research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 54.19%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,302,065. This represents a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.