Argent Capital Management LLC Sells 5,371 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Argent Capital Management LLC reduced its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 198,084 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 5,371 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group accounts for approximately 2.8% of Argent Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Argent Capital Management LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $100,203,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of UNH. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,540,102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $26,626,387,000 after purchasing an additional 563,554 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,636,704 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $11,440,133,000 after buying an additional 318,039 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,061,916 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,884,019,000 after acquiring an additional 193,800 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 78,814.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,296,737 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,096,896,000 after buying an additional 5,290,025 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,772,487 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,920,039,000 after buying an additional 21,149 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UNH has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. KeyCorp started coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $675.00 price target on the stock. Hsbc Global Res upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $626.79.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE UNH opened at $543.21 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $554.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $563.12. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $436.38 and a twelve month high of $630.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company has a market capitalization of $499.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.39, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.62.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. Research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 54.72%.

UnitedHealth Group Company 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.