Anchor Capital Advisors LLC Sells 1,477 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Anchor Capital Advisors LLC reduced its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 39,952 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,477 shares during the quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $20,210,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,540,102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $26,626,387,000 after purchasing an additional 563,554 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $11,440,133,000 after acquiring an additional 318,039 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,061,916 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,884,019,000 after acquiring an additional 193,800 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,931,478 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,012,218,000 after purchasing an additional 36,394 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.5% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,197,167 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,869,320,000 after buying an additional 107,097 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Hsbc Global Res upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Stephens lifted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $629.32.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 purchase, the director now owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,302,065. This represents a 28.57 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of UNH opened at $469.11 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $436.38 and a 12 month high of $630.73. The firm has a market cap of $431.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.26, a PEG 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. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $517.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $557.79.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The business had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.83 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 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.