UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Sold by Wealth Architects LLC

Wealth Architects LLC lessened its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 5,609 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 85 shares during the period. Wealth Architects LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $2,837,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of UNH. Howard Capital Management Group LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $341,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,778,636 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,039,933,000 after buying an additional 180,479 shares during the period. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $208,000. Schear Investment Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 12.5% during the third quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 4,896 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $2,863,000 after acquiring an additional 544 shares during the period. Finally, BCGM Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. BCGM Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,715 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $2,172,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 1.5 %

UNH opened at $488.52 on Monday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $436.38 and a one year high of $630.73. The company has a market cap of $446.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.52, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. The business’s fifty day moving average is $511.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $549.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.83 EPS. Analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.72%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on UNH shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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, January 28th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $629.32.

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.