UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Sold by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 27.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,006,960 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 2,251,253 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group accounts for about 0.8% of Legal & General Group Plc’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $3,038,681,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter worth approximately $341,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,778,636 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,039,933,000 after acquiring an additional 180,479 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter worth about $319,000. Tenere Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $7,030,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 18.4% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 418 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $244,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,302,065. This represents a 28.57 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNH has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $700.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. HSBC raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNH opened at $524.94 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $480.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.87, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $509.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $541.85. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $436.38 and a 52 week high of $630.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The business’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.83 EPS. Research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio 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.