Financial Counselors Inc. Lowers Stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Financial Counselors Inc. reduced its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 150,505 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,310 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group comprises about 1.1% of Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $76,135,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. NewSquare Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The shares were acquired 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 directly owns 4,500 shares in the company, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Hsbc Global Res raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. HSBC upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 price objective 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of UNH opened at $513.58 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $509.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $545.56. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $436.38 and a twelve month high of $630.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $469.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.13, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The company had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.83 earnings per share. UnitedHealth Group’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.64%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.19%.

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.