UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Sold by Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. decreased its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 0.3% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 63,526 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 203 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group makes up approximately 1.1% of Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $31,426,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,802,231,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 53,573.1% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,352,490 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,238,515,000 after acquiring an additional 2,348,107 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 49.3% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,617,813 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,904,670,000 after buying an additional 1,195,352 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 35.9% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 3,090,986 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,627,311,000 after buying an additional 815,822 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 3,464.9% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 825,311 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $434,501,000 after buying an additional 802,160 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on UNH shares. HSBC raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $580.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Baird R W upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $591.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $607.00 to $546.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $596.00 to $555.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $579.74.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of UNH traded up $1.22 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $495.87. The company had a trading volume of 1,140,084 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,276,114. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $498.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $501.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company has a market capitalization of $456.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.22, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.60. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $436.38 and a 12-month high of $554.70.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.63 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $99.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.23 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 4.05% and a return on equity of 26.50%. The business’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $6.26 EPS. Research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.55 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 17th were paid a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.69%. This is a boost from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.88. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 17th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.34%.

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.