Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Has $29.51 Million Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. trimmed its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 40.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 58,327 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 39,398 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group comprises about 0.8% of Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $29,505,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at $1,914,740,000. Amundi grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 97.2% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 6,069,100 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,183,132,000 after buying an additional 2,991,470 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 76,830.4% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,888,641 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $955,388,000 after acquiring an additional 1,886,186 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 129.7% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,029,540 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $601,951,000 after acquiring an additional 581,324 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,540,102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $26,626,387,000 after purchasing an additional 563,554 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in 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 research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $700.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th. Stephens boosted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:UNH opened at $503.05 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $460.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.45, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $510.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $548.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $436.38 and a 12 month high of $630.73.

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

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.67%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.19%.

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.