Riverwater Partners LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Riverwater Partners LLC trimmed its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,380 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 47 shares during the quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,410,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in UNH. Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 1st quarter valued at $212,000. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 5,512 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $2,727,000 after buying an additional 326 shares during the period. Signet Financial Management LLC boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. Signet Financial Management LLC now owns 725 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $358,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Agate Pass Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 25.2% during the first quarter. Agate Pass Investment Management LLC now owns 497 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $246,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Janiczek Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 4.7% in the first quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,814 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $897,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on UNH shares. Stephens decreased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $632.00 to $605.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $591.00 to $644.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. HSBC cut UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $615.53.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $564.48 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $521.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.77, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.58. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $436.38 and a 12 month high of $608.63. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $584.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $536.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.00 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $100.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.14 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $6.56 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.49%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.72%.

UnitedHealth Group 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.