UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Holdings Increased by Sentry Investment Management LLC

Sentry Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,167 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 453 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group comprises approximately 1.3% of Sentry Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $3,021,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. United Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 62.2% in the third quarter. United Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,966 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,149,000 after buying an additional 754 shares in the last quarter. ASB Consultores LLC lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 37.2% during the 3rd quarter. ASB Consultores LLC now owns 1,763 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,031,000 after purchasing an additional 478 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 4.7% in the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC now owns 803 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $470,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,754 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,195,000 after buying an additional 326 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,393 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,399,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $597.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $615.53.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $557.77 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $581.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $542.90. The company has a market cap of $515.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.58. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $608.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.91.

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

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.51%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio 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.