Groupe la Francaise Trims Stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH

Groupe la Francaise cut its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 97.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 596 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 27,602 shares during the period. Groupe la Francaise’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $185,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bayforest Capital Ltd raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 685.7% during the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 55 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 416.7% in the first quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 62 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Islay Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Nova Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 339.1% in the first quarter. Nova Wealth Management Inc. now owns 101 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UNH has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $317.00 to $409.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $406.00 target price for the company. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $378.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $286.00 to $408.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $300.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $385.54.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 1.7%

UNH opened at $333.81 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $302.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.43. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $234.60 and a 12 month high of $608.99. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $342.06 and a 200 day moving average of $315.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $2.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.87 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $113.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $113.19 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 19.23% and a net margin of 4.04%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $7.15 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 8th will be issued a dividend of $2.21 per share. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 8th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.14%.

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.