UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Sold by ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. cut its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 6.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,467 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 233 shares during the period. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,754,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,540,102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $26,626,387,000 after purchasing an additional 563,554 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,636,704 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $11,440,133,000 after buying an additional 318,039 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted 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 valued at $4,884,019,000 after acquiring an additional 193,800 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 5,290,025 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,772,487 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,920,039,000 after purchasing an additional 21,149 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 0.1 %

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $510.03 on Tuesday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $436.38 and a 12-month high of $630.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $469.37 billion, a PE ratio of 32.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.62. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $549.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $563.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The business had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.83 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.65%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on UNH. HSBC raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays reduced their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $627.74.

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.