Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. Sells 19,795 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. lessened its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 26.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 53,832 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after selling 19,795 shares during the period. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.'s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $27,361,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,375,744,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at $1,914,740,000. Amundi lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 97.2% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 6,069,100 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $3,183,132,000 after purchasing an additional 2,991,470 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 76,830.4% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,888,641 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $955,388,000 after buying an additional 1,886,186 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,616,007 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $7,899,905,000 after buying an additional 906,365 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on UNH shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $642.00 to $560.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $525.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised UnitedHealth Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $603.05.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

NYSE:UNH traded down $6.05 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $418.20. The company had a trading volume of 9,255,934 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,475,126. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $503.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $535.01. The firm has a market cap of $382.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.98, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $412.10 and a 52 week high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $7.29 by ($0.09). UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The firm had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $6.91 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group's payout ratio is 35.18%.

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.