American Trust Has $8.24 Million Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

American Trust lessened its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 15.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,097 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after selling 2,633 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group accounts for 0.7% of American Trust's portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. American Trust's holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $8,242,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in UNH. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1,275.3% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 44,547 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $26,060,000 after purchasing an additional 41,308 shares during the period. Parsifal Capital Management LP acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $21,165,000. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $558,000. Tealwood Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,905,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $5,554,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on UNH. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $591.00 to $644.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Stephens lifted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, HSBC downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $626.84.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of UNH stock traded up $4.72 on Friday, reaching $520.48. 8,201,596 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,987,167. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $436.38 and a 12-month high of $630.73. 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 company has a market capitalization of $478.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.58. The business's 50 day moving average price is $583.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $559.30.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $7.00 by $0.15. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The firm had revenue of $100.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $6.56 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.61%. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 54.72%.

UnitedHealth Group 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.