UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Stake Cut by Arjuna Capital

Arjuna Capital trimmed its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,238 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 136 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group accounts for 1.2% of Arjuna Capital’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Arjuna Capital’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $4,673,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hudson Value Partners LLC increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 8.3% in the third quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 1,069 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $625,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 1,777 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,039,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Group LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter worth $341,000. GSG Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 14.4% in the third quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 746 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $435,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the period. Finally, Advisor Resource Council acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $308,000. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNH has been the topic of a number of research reports. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $700.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Stephens increased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. One investment 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 data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:UNH opened at $493.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $513.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $553.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $451.28 billion, a PE ratio of 31.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $436.38 and a one year high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.83 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,302,065. This trade represents a 28.57 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.