Forbes J M & Co. LLP Has $10.85 Million Stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Forbes J M & Co. LLP lowered its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 1.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 18,551 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 359 shares during the quarter. Forbes J M & Co. LLP’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $10,846,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 4.6% in the third quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 5,472 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,199,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE now owns 22,429 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $13,114,000 after purchasing an additional 880 shares during the period. Southern Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 770.1% during the 3rd quarter. Southern Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,672 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $2,147,000 after buying an additional 3,250 shares during the period. Summit Place Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 11.3% in the third quarter. Summit Place Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,913 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,873,000 after buying an additional 497 shares during the period. Finally, Greenspring Advisors LLC bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $317,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on UNH. StockNews.com downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $481.00 to $647.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. KeyCorp started coverage on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $675.00 price target on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $615.53.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of UNH opened at $565.46 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $522.16 billion, a PE ratio of 36.84, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company’s 50-day moving average is $583.25 and its 200-day moving average is $539.45. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $608.63.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.00 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $100.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.14 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The business’s revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $6.56 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.49%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.72%.

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.