Foundry Partners LLC Decreases Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Foundry Partners LLC cut its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 5.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 485 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 30 shares during the period. Foundry Partners LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $284,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in 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 worth $3,096,896,000 after acquiring an additional 5,290,025 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the first quarter valued at $1,117,462,000. Lone Pine Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $480,903,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 30.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,816,254 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,942,956,000 after purchasing an additional 880,183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1,125.4% in the 2nd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 894,006 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $455,281,000 after buying an additional 821,050 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on UNH shares. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com cut UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $591.00 to $644.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. HSBC cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $604.00 to $603.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $615.53.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

UNH opened at $590.77 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $582.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $552.59. The stock has a market cap of $543.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.58. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $436.38 and a 1-year high of $630.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.00 by $0.15. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 26.37%. The business had revenue of $100.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $6.56 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend 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.