Linscomb Wealth Inc. Decreases Stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Linscomb Wealth Inc. reduced its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 12.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 813 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 115 shares during the period. Linscomb Wealth Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $411,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,540,102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $26,626,387,000 after purchasing an additional 563,554 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,636,704 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $11,440,133,000 after acquiring an additional 318,039 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,061,916 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,884,019,000 after purchasing an additional 193,800 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,931,478 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,012,218,000 after purchasing an additional 36,394 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 3.5% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,197,167 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,869,320,000 after acquiring an additional 107,097 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $474.95 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $437.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $516.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $557.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $436.38 and a 12-month high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The company had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.83 earnings per share. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $650.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. HSBC upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Stephens increased their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $629.32.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,302,065. The trade was a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.