UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Sold by Cottonwood Capital Advisors LLC

Cottonwood Capital Advisors LLC lessened its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 638 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 32 shares during the quarter. Cottonwood Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $323,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. M&T Bank Corp increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 13.4% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 220,590 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $128,975,000 after acquiring an additional 26,074 shares during the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 17.6% in the 4th quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,957 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,025,000 after purchasing an additional 1,193 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1,275.3% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 44,547 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $26,060,000 after buying an additional 41,308 shares in the last quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter valued at $21,165,000. Finally, Signal Advisors Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 9,115 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,611,000 after purchasing an additional 1,051 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 0.5 %

UNH opened at $532.26 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $542.24 and its 200-day moving average is $563.54. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $436.38 and a one year high of $630.73. The company has a market capitalization of $489.83 billion, a PE ratio of 34.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 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.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.83 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,302,065. The trade was a 28.57 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on UNH. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $650.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, HSBC upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $627.74.

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.