Quest Partners LLC Reduces Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Quest Partners LLC lessened its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 87.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 235 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,574 shares during the quarter. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $137,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AMG National Trust Bank grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 17,673 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $10,333,000 after purchasing an additional 778 shares during the last quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 14.2% in the 3rd quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 16,243 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $9,497,000 after acquiring an additional 2,017 shares during the period. Prudent Man Advisors LLC lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 28.5% during the 3rd quarter. Prudent Man Advisors LLC now owns 2,963 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,732,000 after acquiring an additional 658 shares during the period. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter worth approximately $203,000. Finally, Gilbert & Cook Inc. grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 238.0% in the 3rd quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 1,555 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $909,000 after buying an additional 1,095 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $591.00 to $644.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $618.26.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 0.3 %

UNH stock opened at $608.38 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $436.38 and a one year high of $630.73. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $584.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $555.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $559.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.63, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.58.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.00 by $0.15. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The company had revenue of $100.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $6.56 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.6 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 54.72%.

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.