Verus Capital Partners LLC Has $555,000 Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Verus Capital Partners LLC reduced its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 950 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 86 shares during the quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $555,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of UNH. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 84,405,255 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $41,755,280,000 after acquiring an additional 544,740 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,062,928 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $12,893,331,000 after purchasing an additional 94,641 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,039,601 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,094,247,000 after buying an additional 35,533 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 78,814.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,296,737 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,096,896,000 after acquiring an additional 5,290,025 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 30.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,816,254 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,942,956,000 after purchasing an additional 880,183 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

NYSE:UNH opened at $615.01 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $582.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $546.78. The company has a market cap of $565.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.58. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52-week low of $436.38 and a 52-week high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.00 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $100.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.14 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 26.37%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $6.56 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is 54.72%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on UNH. HSBC lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $597.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $625.00 target price (down previously from $640.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $481.00 to $647.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $615.53.

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.