UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) is Meridiem Investment Management Ltd.'s Largest Position

Meridiem Investment Management Ltd. cut its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 1.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 714,020 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after selling 10,275 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group accounts for 7.4% of Meridiem Investment Management Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Meridiem Investment Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.08% of UnitedHealth Group worth $417,432,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 84,405,255 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $41,755,280,000 after acquiring an additional 544,740 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,062,928 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $12,893,331,000 after buying an additional 94,641 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,039,601 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $4,094,247,000 after acquiring an additional 35,533 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 30.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,816,254 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $1,942,956,000 after acquiring an additional 880,183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,772,487 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $1,920,039,000 after purchasing an additional 21,149 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UNH has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Stephens cut their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $632.00 to $605.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. HSBC cut UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $615.58.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of UNH traded up $3.58 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $569.61. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,687,045 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,966,484. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $584.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $534.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $524.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $436.38 and a 1-year high of $608.63.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $7.00 by $0.15. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.66% and a return on equity of 26.55%. The business had revenue of $100.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $6.56 EPS. The business's revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. UnitedHealth Group's payout ratio is 51.34%.

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.