AQR Capital Management LLC Cuts Stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

AQR Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 21.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 276,270 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 76,497 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $136,944,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Aveo Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 23.8% during the fourth quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,164 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,139,000 after buying an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,273 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,250,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 80.9% in the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 6,220 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,275,000 after purchasing an additional 2,782 shares in the last quarter. Lcnb Corp raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Lcnb Corp now owns 480 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $253,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 24.8% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 1,544 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $813,000 after acquiring an additional 307 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

NYSE UNH opened at $575.02 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $578.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $522.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $530.98 billion, a PE ratio of 35.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.58. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $436.38 and a 12 month high of $607.94.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.66 by $0.14. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.55% and a net margin of 3.66%. The business had revenue of $98.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $98.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $6.14 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 51.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial raised their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $560.00 to $604.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. HSBC increased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $580.00 to $610.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $546.00 to $559.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $614.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $579.03, for a total transaction of $868,545.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,507,748.55. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 2,851 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $569.88, for a total value of $1,624,727.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,812,029.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $579.03, for a total value of $868,545.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,785 shares in the company, valued at $4,507,748.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.