Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Trims Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lessened its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 645,002 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after selling 8,501 shares during the quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P owned 0.07% of UnitedHealth Group worth $326,280,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NewSquare Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth $40,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,302,065. The trade was a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on UNH. Barclays dropped 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. KeyCorp reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $650.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th. Stephens increased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $610.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNH traded down $0.25 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $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 fifty day moving average of $508.81 and a 200 day moving average of $544.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $471.51 billion, a PE ratio of 33.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $436.38 and a twelve month high of $630.73.

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

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

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

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.