Ballast Advisors LLC Reduces Stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH

Ballast Advisors LLC reduced its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 10.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,019 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 116 shares during the period. Ballast Advisors LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $318,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of UNH. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 719.7% during the second quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 7,025 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $2,192,000 after buying an additional 6,168 shares in the last quarter. Interchange Capital Partners LLC increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 49.5% during the second quarter. Interchange Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,611 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $2,063,000 after buying an additional 2,190 shares in the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 3.7% during the second quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,702 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,467,000 after buying an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 30.1% during the second quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 5,942 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,854,000 after buying an additional 1,375 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% during the second quarter. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs now owns 34,132 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $10,648,000 after buying an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $362.78 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $338.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $337.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $234.60 and a twelve month high of $630.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $328.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.72, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.47.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.45 by ($0.37). UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 5.04% and a return on equity of 23.32%. The company had revenue of $111.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.75 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $6.80 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. UnitedHealth Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 16.000- EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a $2.21 dividend. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 38.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on UNH. Barclays raised their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $352.00 to $386.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $317.00 to $409.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $310.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Mizuho raised their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $300.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $385.13.

UnitedHealth Group Company 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.