UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Sold by Chesapeake Wealth Management

Chesapeake Wealth Management cut its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,653 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 138 shares during the quarter. Chesapeake Wealth Management’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $2,721,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 78,814.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,296,737 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,096,896,000 after acquiring an additional 5,290,025 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,117,462,000. Lone Pine Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the second quarter worth approximately $480,903,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 30.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,816,254 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,942,956,000 after acquiring an additional 880,183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 1,125.4% during the 2nd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 894,006 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $455,281,000 after acquiring an additional 821,050 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on UNH shares. Hsbc Global Res downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays lowered their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $604.00 to $603.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Stephens decreased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $632.00 to $605.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, HSBC downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $615.53.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of UNH opened at $589.65 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $542.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $582.75 and its 200-day moving average is $550.66. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $436.38 and a one year high of $630.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.00 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $100.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.14 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 26.37%. The business’s revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.56 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.6 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.72%.

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.