PineStone Asset Management Inc. Has $514.03 Million Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

PineStone Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 33.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 879,162 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 439,313 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group comprises approximately 5.0% of PineStone Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. PineStone Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.10% of UnitedHealth Group worth $514,028,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 44.0% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 265 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $131,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 20.6% in the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 10,867 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $5,376,000 after acquiring an additional 1,857 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.2% in the first quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 5,221 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,583,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Findlay Park Partners LLP grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 31.6% in the first quarter. Findlay Park Partners LLP now owns 570,026 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $281,992,000 after acquiring an additional 137,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $5,944,000. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on UNH. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $597.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. TD Cowen increased 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. Bank of America reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Stephens dropped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $632.00 to $605.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $615.53.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $564.40 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $582.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $540.65. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $436.38 and a 52 week high of $608.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market cap of $521.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.77, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.58.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted 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. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The firm had revenue of $100.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $6.56 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.72%.

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.