Prudent Man Advisors LLC Sells 279 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Prudent Man Advisors LLC lessened its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 9.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,684 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 279 shares during the period. Prudent Man Advisors LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,358,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter valued at $37,000. DecisionPoint Financial LLC raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 155.0% in the fourth quarter. DecisionPoint Financial LLC now owns 102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter valued at about $57,000. Finally, FPC Investment Advisory Inc. raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 863.6% during the fourth quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 106 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE:UNH opened at $474.95 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $437.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.64, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $516.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $557.16. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $436.38 and a 12 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.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. The business 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 company’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.83 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.77%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.19%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,302,065. The trade was a 28.57 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on UNH shares. StockNews.com upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Hsbc Global Res raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $650.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Stephens upped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $629.32.

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.