Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Lowers Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,963 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 124 shares during the quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $2,613,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 100,076.4% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,823,820 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $6,268,753,000 after acquiring an additional 11,812,017 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth about $5,210,004,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 1,682.4% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,691,542 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,372,606,000 after buying an additional 2,540,538 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 53,573.1% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,352,490 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,238,515,000 after buying an additional 2,348,107 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 143.4% in the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,494,100 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,679,401,000 after buying an additional 2,058,829 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $551.00 price target for the company. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $610.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $675.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $584.00 to $581.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $576.48.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of UNH stock traded down $2.52 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $439.20. 6,045,671 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,111,728. The stock has a market cap of $404.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.54. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $492.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $516.25. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52-week low of $436.38 and a 52-week high of $554.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 12th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.98 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $94.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $92.13 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 6.02% and a return on equity of 26.39%. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.34 EPS. Equities analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.7 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $1.88 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $7.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.71%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 31.54%.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total value of $451,127.82. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,977,233.31. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total transaction of $597,581.28. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,527,306.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total value of $451,127.82. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,977,233.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

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.