Perennial Investment Advisors LLC Sells 63 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Perennial Investment Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,729 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 63 shares during the period. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,381,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of UNH. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at $6,375,744,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth about $1,914,740,000. Amundi lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 97.2% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in 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 valued at $955,388,000 after buying an additional 1,886,186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,923,770 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,514,178,000 after purchasing an additional 861,854 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,302,065. The trade was a 28.57 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on UNH shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $700.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays lowered their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, HSBC raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of UNH stock opened at $524.94 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market cap of $480.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $509.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $542.37. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The firm had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.60 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.83 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 paid a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 54.19%.

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.