IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd Has $7.17 Million Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd trimmed its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 7.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,179 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after selling 1,121 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group makes up about 0.8% of IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd's holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $7,173,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. Howard Capital Management Group LLC purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $341,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,778,636 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $1,039,933,000 after buying an additional 180,479 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter valued at about $1,763,000. Cadence Bank grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 2,794 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $1,634,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baldwin Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Baldwin Investment Management LLC now owns 2,800 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $1,637,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company's stock.

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UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of UNH traded down $0.25 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $515.47. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,378,211 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,268,981. The stock has a market capitalization of $471.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.26, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $508.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $544.24.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The business had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $101.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.83 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.63%. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. HSBC upgraded 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. Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $629.32.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,302,065. This represents a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

About UnitedHealth Group

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.