UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Stake Lessened by Golden State Equity Partners

Golden State Equity Partners trimmed its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 10.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,762 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 310 shares during the quarter. Golden State Equity Partners’ holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,615,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6.4% in the third quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 748 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $437,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 20,835 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $11,685,000 after purchasing an additional 1,346 shares during the last quarter. Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. now owns 31,689 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $18,528,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the period. Finally, Childress Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 24.6% during the third quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,019 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,766,000 after acquiring an additional 597 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on UNH shares. KeyCorp began coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, October 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $675.00 target price on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $591.00 to $644.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $597.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $615.53.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock traded up $3.00 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $565.13. The company had a trading volume of 98,326 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,901,827. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $582.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $540.32. The company has a market capitalization of $521.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.58. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $436.38 and a 1-year high of $608.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.00 by $0.15. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 26.37%. The company had revenue of $100.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $6.56 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 presently 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.