Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. Sells 20,175 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. cut its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 28.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 51,799 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after selling 20,175 shares during the quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A.'s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $26,203,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of UNH. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,540,102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $26,626,387,000 after purchasing an additional 563,554 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,636,704 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $11,440,133,000 after acquiring an additional 318,039 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $6,375,744,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,061,916 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $4,884,019,000 after purchasing an additional 193,800 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings 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 valued at $4,012,218,000 after purchasing an additional 36,394 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company's stock.

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Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,302,065. This trade represents a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on UNH. HSBC raised UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $595.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. 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 report on Tuesday, January 28th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. KeyCorp reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $650.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target 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. Twenty research 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.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 4.2 %

Shares of NYSE UNH traded up $21.97 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $545.17. The company had a trading volume of 2,741,616 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,230,006. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $509.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $542.83. 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 one year low of $436.38 and a one year high of $630.73. The stock has a market cap of $498.67 billion, a PE ratio of 35.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62.

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

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group's payout ratio is 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.