UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Holdings Trimmed by Capital World Investors

Capital World Investors lessened its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 18.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,515,729 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after selling 4,725,017 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group makes up approximately 1.7% of Capital World Investors' holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Capital World Investors owned about 2.34% of UnitedHealth Group worth $10,884,096,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in UNH. NewSquare Capital LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on UNH shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Raymond James restated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $540.00 price objective (down from $635.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Monday. KeyCorp lowered their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $650.00 to $575.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $642.00 to $560.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $525.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Three 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $604.67.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock traded up $4.72 on Wednesday, hitting $431.90. 4,515,816 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,422,264. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $508.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $537.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $395.06 billion, a PE ratio of 27.86, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $417.12 and a 1 year high of $630.73.

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

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.18%.

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.