Private Capital Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Private Capital Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 7.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 568 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 49 shares during the quarter. Private Capital Management LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $299,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BTC Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the first quarter valued at about $7,827,000. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,532 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $758,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Triangle Securities Wealth Management grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Triangle Securities Wealth Management now owns 4,177 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $2,066,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1.4% in the first quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. now owns 25,283 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $12,508,000 after acquiring an additional 337 shares during the period. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 825 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $408,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UNH has been the topic of a number of research reports. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $618.00 to $584.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $596.00 to $555.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $525.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of UnitedHealth Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $579.74.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:UNH opened at $482.59 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $554.70. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $497.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $503.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a market cap of $444.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.50, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.58.

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

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

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

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.