Longview Partners Guernsey LTD Sells 42,336 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Longview Partners Guernsey LTD cut its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 995,862 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after selling 42,336 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group makes up approximately 3.8% of Longview Partners Guernsey LTD's investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Longview Partners Guernsey LTD owned 0.11% of UnitedHealth Group worth $503,767,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth about $6,375,744,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,914,740,000. Amundi boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 97.2% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 76,830.4% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,888,641 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $955,388,000 after buying an additional 1,886,186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,923,770 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $4,514,178,000 after acquiring an additional 861,854 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on UNH shares. Hsbc Global Res upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Twenty-one analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $632.85.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 22.0 %

UNH stock traded down $128.94 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $456.10. The company's stock had a trading volume of 29,048,929 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,373,443. The company has a market cap of $417.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $438.50 and a 12 month high of $630.73. The business's 50 day moving average price is $512.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $540.65. 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 (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.29 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.91 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. UnitedHealth Group's payout ratio is 54.19%.

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.