Alliancebernstein L.P. Decreases Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Alliancebernstein L.P. lowered its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,522,241 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after selling 392,596 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group makes up 1.3% of Alliancebernstein L.P.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 0.82% of UnitedHealth Group worth $3,805,201,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AIA Group Ltd boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 20.7% during the 4th quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 23,983 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $12,132,000 after acquiring an additional 4,106 shares in the last quarter. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,829 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $925,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Partners in Financial Planning bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth $213,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 119,351 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $60,375,000 after purchasing an additional 6,813 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inkwell Capital LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,158,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Remove Ads

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,302,065. This trade represents a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 4.2 %

UnitedHealth Group stock traded up $21.97 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $545.17. 2,741,616 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,230,006. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $436.38 and a twelve month high of $630.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $509.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $542.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $498.67 billion, a PE ratio of 35.17, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.83 EPS. Research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group's payout ratio is 54.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on UNH. Truist Financial decreased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $610.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Stephens lifted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. HSBC upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $595.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $650.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $629.32.

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.