UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Sold by Steph & Co.

Steph & Co. reduced its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,709 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 54 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group comprises approximately 0.4% of Steph & Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest position. Steph & Co.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $900,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in UNH. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 100,076.4% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,823,820 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,268,753,000 after purchasing an additional 11,812,017 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $5,210,004,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 1,682.4% during 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 in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 53,573.1% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,352,490 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,238,515,000 after acquiring an additional 2,348,107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 143.4% in the 2nd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,494,100 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,679,401,000 after purchasing an additional 2,058,829 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $566.00 to $571.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $610.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $525.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $605.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $675.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $571.20.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of UNH traded up $10.10 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $478.99. The company had a trading volume of 8,753,186 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,466,666. The company’s 50-day moving average is $490.31 and its 200-day moving average is $515.63. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $436.38 and a twelve month high of $554.70. The company has a market capitalization of $441.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.54. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.63 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $99.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.23 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.39% and a net margin of 6.02%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $6.26 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.69 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 11th were given a $1.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $7.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.57%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

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

UnitedHealth Group Company 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.