Ballentine Partners LLC Has $9.65 Million Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Ballentine Partners LLC cut its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 1.2% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 19,503 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 229 shares during the quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $9,648,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 83,860,515 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $44,150,045,000 after purchasing an additional 250,291 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.1% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,220,234 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $12,715,790,000 after purchasing an additional 527,526 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 15,122,203 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $7,961,369,000 after purchasing an additional 324,733 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,860,985 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $6,244,158,000 after buying an additional 542,424 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth $5,802,231,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE UNH traded up $2.90 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $485.49. 648,179 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,136,682. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $497.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $503.62. 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 capitalization of $446.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.58. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $436.38 and a 12 month high of $554.70.

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

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be paid a $2.10 dividend. This is a positive change from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.88. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 17th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is presently 51.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. HSBC upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $580.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $566.00 to $571.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target 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. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $534.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $579.74.

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.