Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Has $70.53 Million Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 47.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 139,422 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 124,232 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $70,528,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of UNH. Delta Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Delta Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,650 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $965,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. First PREMIER Bank lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 7.0% in the third quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 274 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $160,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Genesee Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Genesee Capital Advisors LLC now owns 990 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $579,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Jmac Enterprises LLC boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Jmac Enterprises LLC now owns 823 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $481,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Powers Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 4.8% in the third quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC now owns 418 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $244,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNH traded down $1.58 on Wednesday, hitting $540.90. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 319,743 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,532,496. The company has a market capitalization of $497.78 billion, a PE ratio of 34.78, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $539.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $565.28. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. The company 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 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. UnitedHealth Group’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.83 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.55%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,302,065. This represents a 28.57 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UNH has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial decreased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. TD Cowen increased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. 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. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, HSBC raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $629.32.

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.