Hartford Funds Management Co LLC Trims Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Hartford Funds Management Co LLC cut its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,217 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 133 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group comprises 0.2% of Hartford Funds Management Co LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $2,639,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. NewSquare Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter worth $57,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,302,065. This represents a 28.57 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 2.5 %

UNH opened at $487.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $514.11 and its 200 day moving average is $554.35. The stock has a market cap of $448.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61.

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

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

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 paid a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 54.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UNH has been the topic of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Stephens lifted 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $629.32.

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.