Stifel Financial Corp Sells 17,207 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Stifel Financial Corp trimmed its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,651,346 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after selling 17,207 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group comprises approximately 0.9% of Stifel Financial Corp's investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Stifel Financial Corp owned about 0.18% of UnitedHealth Group worth $835,433,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. NewSquare Capital LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on UNH. Hsbc Global Res downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $525.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $640.00 to $600.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $603.05.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock traded down $3.26 during trading on Thursday, hitting $424.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,608,478 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,452,379. The stock has a market cap of $388.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $417.12 and a 52 week high of $630.73. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $506.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $537.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $7.29 by ($0.09). UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The company had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $6.91 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. UnitedHealth Group's payout ratio is currently 35.18%.

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.