Banco Santander S.A. Reduces Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Banco Santander S.A. reduced its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 17.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 46,381 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 9,703 shares during the quarter. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $23,462,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of UNH. NewSquare Capital LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $57,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on UNH. HSBC upgraded 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. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $650.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $700.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Stephens boosted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 1.2 %

UNH opened at $493.35 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $436.38 and a one year high of $630.73. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $513.78 and its 200-day moving average is $553.76. The company has a market capitalization of $451.28 billion, a PE ratio of 31.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.83 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given 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 of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.19%.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were bought 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 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.33% of the stock is 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.