Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Sells 8,501 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P cut its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 645,002 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 8,501 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P owned about 0.07% of UnitedHealth Group worth $326,280,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. NewSquare Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $511.57 per share, with a total value 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. The trade was a 28.57 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of UNH opened at $518.10 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $473.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 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. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $630.73. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $508.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $545.37.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. The business 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.83 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is 54.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNH has been the topic of a number of research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $700.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $629.32.

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.