Trust Co of the South Sells 1,243 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Trust Co of the South lessened its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 37.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,108 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,243 shares during the period. Trust Co of the South’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,043,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bell Investment Advisors Inc lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 525 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $276,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 16,941 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $8,919,000 after buying an additional 342 shares during the period. Bellecapital International Ltd. grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Bellecapital International Ltd. now owns 13,823 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $7,277,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 326.0% during the fourth quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 213 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $112,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the period. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 84,278 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $44,370,000 after buying an additional 5,023 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE UNH opened at $483.16 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $436.38 and a 52 week high of $554.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $444.70 billion, a PE ratio of 29.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $497.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $504.26.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.63 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $99.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.23 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 4.05% and a return on equity of 26.50%. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.26 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 17th. This is a boost from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.88. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.74%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is 51.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on UNH. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $534.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $546.00 to $559.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $545.00 to $562.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $579.74.

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.