UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Sold by ProVise Management Group LLC

ProVise Management Group LLC lowered its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 21.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 593 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 163 shares during the period. ProVise Management Group LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $300,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of UNH. Howard Capital Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $341,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,778,636 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,039,933,000 after acquiring an additional 180,479 shares in the last quarter. BIP Wealth LLC grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 51.0% during the 3rd quarter. BIP Wealth LLC now owns 610 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $357,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 53.3% during the 3rd quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 87,219 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $50,995,000 after acquiring an additional 30,340 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategy Asset Managers LLC increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 269.2% during the 3rd quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 9,755 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $5,703,000 after buying an additional 7,113 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,302,065. This represents a 28.57 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of UNH opened at $503.05 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $460.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $510.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $548.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company 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 Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.67%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on UNH shares. Stephens upped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. 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 research report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $700.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $629.32.

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.