Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Decreases Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lowered its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 67.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 24,853 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after selling 51,673 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.'s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $14,531,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Delta Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Delta Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,650 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $965,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 40.0% during the 2nd quarter. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC now owns 63 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. Saxony Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Saxony Capital Management LLC now owns 530 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $270,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. GoalVest Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 3,124 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $1,591,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. Finally, Fiduciary Group LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC now owns 3,695 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $1,882,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on UNH shares. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $591.00 to $644.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Stephens reduced their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $632.00 to $605.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $615.53.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock traded up $1.79 on Thursday, hitting $602.29. The stock had a trading volume of 521,584 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,865,418. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $436.38 and a one year high of $630.73. The stock has a market cap of $554.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.12, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.58. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $582.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $551.60.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $7.00 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $100.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.14 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The firm's revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $6.56 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.6 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. UnitedHealth Group's payout ratio is 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.