UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Sold by Diversified LLC

Diversified LLC lowered its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,352 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 32 shares during the quarter. Diversified LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,960,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,039,601 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,094,247,000 after purchasing an additional 35,533 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 78,814.4% in the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 5,290,025 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 30.0% in the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,772,487 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,920,039,000 after acquiring an additional 21,149 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,197,167 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,869,320,000 after acquiring an additional 107,097 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $600.45 on Monday. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $582.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $553.30. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52-week low of $436.38 and a 52-week high of $630.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $552.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.58.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.00 by $0.15. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The company had revenue of $100.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.14 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $6.56 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on UNH. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays cut their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $604.00 to $603.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. HSBC downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. KeyCorp began coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, October 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $675.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $615.53.

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.