Benjamin Edwards Inc. Trims Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. cut its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,845 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 101 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,498,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of UNH. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 53,573.1% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,352,490 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,238,515,000 after acquiring an additional 2,348,107 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 49.3% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,617,813 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,904,670,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195,352 shares in the last quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 75.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 2,011,150 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,014,002,000 after buying an additional 862,024 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 35.9% during the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 3,090,986 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,627,311,000 after acquiring an additional 815,822 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 20.1% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,725,650 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,879,245,000 after purchasing an additional 623,631 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on UNH. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $605.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $525.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $675.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $566.00 to $571.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $570.05.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNH traded up $6.99 during trading on Thursday, reaching $491.10. The company had a trading volume of 1,463,929 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,409,753. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $483.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $513.21. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $554.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $451.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.55.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.63 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $99.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.23 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 4.05% and a return on equity of 26.50%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th were given a $1.88 dividend. This represents a $7.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 45.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total transaction of $451,127.82. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,977,233.31. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total value of $597,581.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,527,306.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total transaction of $451,127.82. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,289 shares in the company, valued at $16,977,233.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

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.