First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Sells 2,534 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. cut its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 38,520 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 2,534 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $19,486,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Archford Capital Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Archford Capital Strategies LLC now owns 8,939 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,522,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC now owns 2,721 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,377,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas now owns 97,736 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $49,441,000 after purchasing an additional 376 shares in the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Tran Capital Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Tran Capital Management L.P. now owns 19,875 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $10,054,000 after purchasing an additional 575 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UNH has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. UBS Group dropped their price objective 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. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $650.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $627.74.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,302,065. This trade represents a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UNH stock opened at $532.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83. The company has a market capitalization of $489.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.34, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.62. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $436.38 and a 52 week high of $630.73. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $541.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $563.84.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.83 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.74 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is presently 54.19%.

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.