Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Sells 16,164 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. reduced its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 297,263 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 16,164 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group makes up approximately 1.1% of Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $150,373,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth $6,375,744,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,914,740,000. Amundi increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 97.2% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 6,069,100 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,183,132,000 after buying an additional 2,991,470 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 76,830.4% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,888,641 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $955,388,000 after acquiring an additional 1,886,186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 129.7% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,029,540 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $601,951,000 after buying an additional 581,324 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on UNH. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $700.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th. Stephens boosted their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. HSBC raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $629.32.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,000 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The stock was purchased 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 $2,302,065. This trade represents a 28.57 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UNH stock opened at $515.47 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $508.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $544.62. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $630.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $471.51 billion, a PE ratio of 33.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $100.81 billion for 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 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 firm earned $5.83 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.63%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.19%.

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.