Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Trims Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lowered its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 0.1% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,721,379 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 2,891 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group makes up 0.9% of Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,346,266,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Richelieu Gestion SA purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. CGC Financial Services LLC grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1,000.0% in the 4th quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 55 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 148.1% in the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 67 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on UNH. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $545.00 to $562.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $596.00 to $555.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $597.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $579.74.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:UNH traded down $2.85 on Wednesday, hitting $495.39. The company had a trading volume of 224,806 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,261,316. The firm has a market capitalization of $455.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $554.70. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $498.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $501.35.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.63 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $99.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.23 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 4.05% and a return on equity of 26.50%. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $6.26 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th were paid a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 17th. This is a positive change from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.88. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.70%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 51.34%.

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.