Stevens Capital Management LP Has $1.15 Million Stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Stevens Capital Management LP decreased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 63.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,277 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 3,949 shares during the quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,152,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. NewSquare Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on UNH. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $700.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective 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. Barclays lowered their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, HSBC raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $629.32.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UNH opened at $517.72 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $436.38 and a 52 week high of $630.73. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $510.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $547.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $473.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.40, a P/E/G 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.

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

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.62%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.19%.

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.