Estabrook Capital Management Cuts Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Estabrook Capital Management trimmed its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 12.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,230 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after selling 2,201 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group accounts for about 1.2% of Estabrook Capital Management's holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Estabrook Capital Management's holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $7,704,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in UNH. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 13.4% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 220,590 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $128,975,000 after buying an additional 26,074 shares during the period. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,957 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $4,025,000 after acquiring an additional 1,193 shares during the period. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 9,115 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $4,611,000 after purchasing an additional 1,051 shares during the last quarter. Waycross Partners LLC raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Waycross Partners LLC now owns 27,794 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $14,060,000 after purchasing an additional 658 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $558,000. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company's stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock traded up $4.70 during trading on Friday, hitting $599.10. 6,117,814 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,344,668. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $548.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.65, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $512.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $541.80. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $438.50 and a 1 year high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.83 earnings per share. As a group, 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. 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 1.40%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group's payout ratio is 54.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,302,065. This represents a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on UNH. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. HSBC raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $595.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Twenty-one analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $632.85.

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.