UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Sold by Certified Advisory Corp

Certified Advisory Corp reduced its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,673 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 83 shares during the period. Certified Advisory Corp’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,858,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of UNH. State Street Corp raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 1.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,540,102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $26,626,387,000 after buying an additional 563,554 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,636,704 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $11,440,133,000 after purchasing an additional 318,039 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,061,916 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,884,019,000 after purchasing an additional 193,800 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 78,814.4% in 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 buying an additional 5,290,025 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% during the second 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UNH stock opened at $511.02 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $436.38 and a one year high of $630.73. 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 $470.28 billion, a PE ratio of 33.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.62. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $553.38 and a 200-day moving average of $562.98.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The company had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.83 earnings per share. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.6 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.64%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.72%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on UNH shares. Stephens upped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $591.00 to $644.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $626.79.

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.