Natixis Advisors LLC Increases Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 11.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 742,935 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 73,515 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group comprises about 0.8% of Natixis Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Natixis Advisors LLC owned 0.08% of UnitedHealth Group worth $434,380,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of UNH. Delta Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Delta Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,650 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $965,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the period. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 40.0% in the 2nd quarter. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC now owns 63 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Saxony Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.5% during the second quarter. Saxony Capital Management LLC now owns 530 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $270,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 3,124 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $1,591,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Group LLC increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC now owns 3,695 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $1,882,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stephens cut their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $632.00 to $605.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $591.00 to $644.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. KeyCorp started coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, October 11th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $675.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $615.53.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock traded down $0.92 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $592.23. 3,423,919 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,888,996. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $545.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $582.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $549.06. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.00 by $0.15. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The business had revenue of $100.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $99.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $6.56 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.72%.

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.