First Western Trust Bank Reduces Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

First Western Trust Bank lowered its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 3.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,282 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 47 shares during the period. First Western Trust Bank’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $750,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 78,814.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,296,737 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,096,896,000 after purchasing an additional 5,290,025 shares during the period. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,117,462,000. Lone Pine Capital LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the second quarter worth about $480,903,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 30.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,816,254 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,942,956,000 after acquiring an additional 880,183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1,125.4% in the 2nd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 894,006 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $455,281,000 after purchasing an additional 821,050 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on UNH. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Hsbc Global Res lowered UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $615.53.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $592.23 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $545.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $582.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $549.98. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $436.38 and a 1-year high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.00 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $100.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.14 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $6.56 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.6 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.72%.

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.