Columbia Asset Management Sells 211 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Columbia Asset Management lessened its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 23.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 676 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 211 shares during the period. Columbia Asset Management’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $342,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. Norges Bank bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at $6,375,744,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth about $1,914,740,000. Amundi grew 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 valued at $3,183,132,000 after purchasing an additional 2,991,470 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position 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 buying an additional 1,886,186 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,923,770 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,514,178,000 after acquiring an additional 861,854 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on UNH. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. HSBC raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $650.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased 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. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE:UNH opened at $522.97 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $478.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.74, a PEG 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. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $509.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $542.96. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company 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 firm’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.83 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.19%.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,302,065. The trade was a 28.57 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.