Wallington Asset Management LLC Has $17.51 Million Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Wallington Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 0.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,388 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 83 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group comprises approximately 2.7% of Wallington Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Wallington Asset Management LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $17,506,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of UNH. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,802,231,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 53,573.1% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,352,490 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,238,515,000 after buying an additional 2,348,107 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 49.3% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,617,813 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,904,670,000 after buying an additional 1,195,352 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 35.9% in the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 3,090,986 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,627,311,000 after buying an additional 815,822 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 3,464.9% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 825,311 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $434,501,000 after buying an additional 802,160 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on UNH. Baird R W raised UnitedHealth Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $545.00 to $562.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $525.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 8th. HSBC raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $580.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird began coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $597.00 price objective for the company. Three research 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.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $579.74.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of UNH stock opened at $489.90 on Thursday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $436.38 and a 12-month high of $554.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $498.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $501.12. The firm has a market cap of $450.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.60.

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

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th were paid a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 17th. This is a positive change from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.88. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 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.