HM Payson & Co. Has $31.10 Million Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

HM Payson & Co. reduced its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 16.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 53,186 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 10,163 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $31,097,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,464 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,610,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Goldstone Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter worth about $565,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 798 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $467,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1.2% in the third quarter. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,791 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $14,495,000 after buying an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.8% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 12,040 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $7,040,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on UNH. 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. Barclays cut their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $604.00 to $603.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $481.00 to $647.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $615.53.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 0.0 %

NYSE UNH traded down $0.01 on Thursday, hitting $562.95. 73,803 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,894,231. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $582.60 and a 200-day moving average of $540.48. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $436.38 and a 12 month high of $608.63. The company has a market cap of $519.84 billion, a PE ratio of 36.72, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.00 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $100.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.14 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $6.56 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.49%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 54.72%.

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.