Meridian Financial LLC Sells 80 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Meridian Financial LLC reduced its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 13.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 503 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 80 shares during the quarter. Meridian Financial LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $254,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 1.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,540,102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $26,626,387,000 after buying an additional 563,554 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,636,704 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $11,440,133,000 after acquiring an additional 318,039 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,061,916 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,884,019,000 after purchasing an additional 193,800 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 78,814.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,296,737 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,096,896,000 after buying an additional 5,290,025 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,772,487 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,920,039,000 after acquiring an additional 21,149 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $510.03 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $469.37 billion, a PE ratio of 33.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a 50-day moving average of $549.37 and a 200 day moving average of $562.73. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $436.38 and a 12-month high of $630.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The company had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.83 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on UNH shares. Bank of America decreased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday. Barclays lowered their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $627.74.

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.