Sterling Investment Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Sterling Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,327 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 54 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group comprises 1.7% of Sterling Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Sterling Investment Management LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $2,189,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 36,704 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $19,945,000 after purchasing an additional 2,250 shares during the last quarter. Traphagen Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. Traphagen Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,172 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $593,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. Genesis Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at $240,000. MCF Advisors LLC lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 2,578 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,304,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Bourgeon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 22,361 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $11,312,000 after purchasing an additional 2,650 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on UNH shares. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. HSBC upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $627.74.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,302,065. The trade was a 28.57 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $519.08 on Thursday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73. The business’s fifty day moving average is $545.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $564.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market cap of $477.70 billion, a PE ratio of 33.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.62.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The company had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.83 earnings per share. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.75 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.62%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 54.19%.

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.