Monument Capital Management Decreases Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Monument Capital Management trimmed its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 27.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,106 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 807 shares during the quarter. Monument Capital Management’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,042,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at $5,802,231,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 53,573.1% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,352,490 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,238,515,000 after acquiring an additional 2,348,107 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 49.3% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,617,813 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,904,670,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195,352 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 815,822 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3,464.9% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UNH traded down $8.48 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $489.76. The stock had a trading volume of 1,072,208 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,267,989. The company has a market capitalization of $450.77 billion, a PE ratio of 30.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.60. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $498.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $501.12. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $554.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

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

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 17th were given a dividend of $2.10 per share. This is an increase from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.88. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 17th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.72%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on UNH. HSBC raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $580.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $596.00 to $555.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. StockNews.com cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $545.00 to $562.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $534.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $579.74.

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.