Walker Asset Management LLC Trims Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Walker Asset Management LLC decreased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 23.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 626 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 192 shares during the quarter. Walker Asset Management LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $317,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc. lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 7.2% in the second quarter. Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc. now owns 184,925 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $94,175,000 after buying an additional 12,372 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 337,254 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $171,750,000 after purchasing an additional 3,348 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 47.4% during the second quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 26,302 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $13,394,000 after buying an additional 8,458 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 62,584 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $31,872,000 after acquiring an additional 2,775 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 39,031 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $19,877,000 after acquiring an additional 1,770 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:UNH opened at $510.03 on Friday. 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 market cap of $469.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.62. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $436.38 and a 1-year high of $630.73. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $551.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $562.62.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.83 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.6 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 54.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on UNH. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $700.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $650.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday. Oppenheimer increased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $627.74.

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.