Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC Sells 223 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 5,133 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 223 shares during the period. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $2,597,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 78,814.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,296,737 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,096,896,000 after buying an additional 5,290,025 shares in the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $480,903,000. Accredited Investors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 9,235.4% in the third quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 784,924 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $458,929,000 after purchasing an additional 776,516 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 33.1% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,361,396 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,380,661,000 after buying an additional 587,088 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 129.7% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,029,540 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $601,951,000 after acquiring an additional 581,324 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on UNH shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Truist Financial dropped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $627.74.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of UNH opened at $510.03 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $551.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $562.62. The company has a market cap of $469.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $436.38 and a twelve month high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The company had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.83 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.65%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 54.72%.

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.