LGT Capital Partners LTD. Sells 24,006 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

LGT Capital Partners LTD. lowered its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 30.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 56,030 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 24,006 shares during the quarter. LGT Capital Partners LTD.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $28,343,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in UNH. Howard Capital Management Group LLC bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter valued at about $341,000. GSG Advisors LLC increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 14.4% in the third quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 746 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $435,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 11.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,778,636 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,039,933,000 after purchasing an additional 180,479 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter valued at about $91,000. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 0.9% in the third quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 84,382 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $49,323,000 after purchasing an additional 769 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

UNH opened at $493.35 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52-week low of $436.38 and a 52-week high of $630.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $451.28 billion, a PE ratio of 31.83, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $513.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $553.57.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.83 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.70%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is 54.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on UNH shares. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $700.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Oppenheimer boosted 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. HSBC raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $629.32.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,302,065. The trade was a 28.57 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.