Westover Capital Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Westover Capital Advisors LLC reduced its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,414 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 40 shares during the quarter. Westover Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $3,245,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 13.4% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 220,590 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $128,975,000 after buying an additional 26,074 shares in the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,957 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,025,000 after buying an additional 1,193 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1,275.3% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 44,547 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $26,060,000 after buying an additional 41,308 shares in the last quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $21,165,000. Finally, Signal Advisors Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 9,115 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,611,000 after buying an additional 1,051 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,302,065. This represents a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNH opened at $467.21 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $429.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $436.38 and a 52 week high of $630.73. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $515.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $556.09.

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

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders 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 1.80%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on UNH. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $700.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Hsbc Global Res raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Stephens lifted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $629.32.

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.