Trust Co. of Virginia VA Sells 738 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Trust Co. of Virginia VA trimmed its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 1.7% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 43,280 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 738 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group makes up about 2.1% of Trust Co. of Virginia VA’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Trust Co. of Virginia VA’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $21,411,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in UNH. Bell Investment Advisors Inc grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 525 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $276,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.2% during the first quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 35,946 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $17,783,000 after purchasing an additional 1,129 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 16,941 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $8,919,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the period. Austin Private Wealth LLC increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 9.8% in the first quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,246 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $573,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. Finally, Bellecapital International Ltd. lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1.4% in 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $607.00 to $546.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $566.00 to $571.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. StockNews.com downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $525.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, June 5th. Three research 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $579.74.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $509.26 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 $468.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.13, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $498.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $501.96.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.63 by $0.28. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 4.05% and a return on equity of 26.50%. The company had revenue of $99.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $6.26 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th were issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. This is an increase from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.88. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 17th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.65%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 51.34%.

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.