UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Sold by MCF Advisors LLC

MCF Advisors LLC decreased its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 3.2% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,499 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 83 shares during the period. MCF Advisors LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,236,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Richelieu Gestion SA acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. CGC Financial Services LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1,000.0% during the 4th quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 55 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 148.1% in the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 67 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on UNH. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $566.00 to $571.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $596.00 to $555.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $618.00 to $584.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $545.00 to $562.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of UnitedHealth Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $579.74.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

NYSE UNH opened at $509.26 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $468.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $498.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $501.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52-week low of $436.38 and a 52-week 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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.63 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $99.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $6.26 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th were paid a $2.10 dividend. This is an increase from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.88. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 17th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.65%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.34%.

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.