Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. Has $2.45 Million Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. reduced its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 29.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 4,684 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,956 shares during the period. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $2,452,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Quarry LP raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 132.1% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 65 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Stephens increased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. One equities research 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, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

NYSE UNH opened at $542.30 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73. The stock has a market cap of $499.07 billion, a PE ratio of 34.99, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $536.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $565.14.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The firm had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.83 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.55%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.19%.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,302,065. This represents a 28.57 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.