UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Stock Holdings Lessened by Symphony Financial Ltd. Co.

Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. lowered its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 29.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,684 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,956 shares during the period. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $2,452,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,540,102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $26,626,387,000 after purchasing an additional 563,554 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position 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 valued at $11,440,133,000 after acquiring an additional 318,039 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,061,916 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,884,019,000 after acquiring an additional 193,800 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 78,814.4% during 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, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 3.5% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,197,167 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,869,320,000 after buying an additional 107,097 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,302,065. This trade represents a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

NYSE UNH opened at $542.30 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $499.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.99, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.62. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $436.38 and a 1-year high of $630.73. The company has a 50 day moving average of $536.17 and a 200-day moving average of $565.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.83 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were given a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.55%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 54.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. TD Cowen increased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Stephens raised their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. HSBC raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently 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.