Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Sells 400,078 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership trimmed its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 25.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,159,559 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 400,078 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $586,575,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $6,375,744,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at $1,914,740,000. Amundi lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 97.2% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 6,069,100 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,183,132,000 after purchasing an additional 2,991,470 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 76,830.4% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 129.7% during the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 581,324 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. HSBC raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Stephens increased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $629.32.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,302,065. This trade represents a 28.57 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 0.0 %

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $515.47 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $508.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $544.24. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $436.38 and a 12 month high of $630.73. The firm has a market cap of $471.51 billion, a PE ratio of 33.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The firm had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.83 EPS. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 54.19%.

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.