UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Sold by First Manhattan CO. LLC.

First Manhattan CO. LLC. cut its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,522,998 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 34,421 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group makes up about 2.3% of First Manhattan CO. LLC.’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. First Manhattan CO. LLC. owned approximately 0.17% of UnitedHealth Group worth $770,550,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. NewSquare Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UNH has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $525.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $700.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $540.00 price objective (down from $635.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Monday, April 21st. Argus lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Erste Group Bank cut UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $596.86.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $385.74 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $385.37 and a 12 month high of $630.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $351.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $489.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $523.90. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.29 by ($0.09). UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The business had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.56 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.91 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.18%.

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.