UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Sold by Cim Investment Management Inc.

Cim Investment Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,669 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 34 shares during the quarter. Cim Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,350,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Distillate Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 19.7% during the 4th quarter. Distillate Capital Partners LLC now owns 143,861 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $72,774,000 after purchasing an additional 23,635 shares during the period. Crux Wealth Advisors purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth about $983,000. Nicolet Bankshares Inc. grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Nicolet Bankshares Inc. now owns 2,513 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,271,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the period. Ceeto Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Ceeto Capital Group LLC now owns 2,226 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,126,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Manhattan West Asset Management LLC increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Manhattan West Asset Management LLC now owns 4,985 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $2,522,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UNH has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. 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. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $700.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Twenty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $632.85.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 0.8 %

UNH opened at $599.10 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $548.00 billion, a PE ratio of 38.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $436.38 and a 12-month high of $630.73. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $512.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $542.03.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. UnitedHealth Group’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.83 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 54.19%.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,302,065. This represents a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.