UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Sold by Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. reduced its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 40.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 58,327 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after selling 39,398 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group accounts for approximately 0.8% of Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.'s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.'s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $29,505,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 1.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,540,102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $26,626,387,000 after purchasing an additional 563,554 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,636,704 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $11,440,133,000 after buying an additional 318,039 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,061,916 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $4,884,019,000 after acquiring an additional 193,800 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,931,478 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $4,012,218,000 after acquiring an additional 36,394 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,223,331 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $3,148,134,000 after acquiring an additional 182,361 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Insider Activity

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the acquisition, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stephens increased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $650.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 0.0 %

NYSE:UNH traded up $0.09 on Monday, reaching $516.94. The stock had a trading volume of 3,840,856 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,087,243. The stock has a market cap of $472.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $436.38 and a 12-month high of $630.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company has a 50-day moving average of $509.71 and a 200 day moving average of $546.15.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The firm had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $101.60 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.83 earnings per share. The firm'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 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 54.19%.

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.