Simmons Bank Has $5.33 Million Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Simmons Bank decreased its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,541 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 180 shares during the period. Simmons Bank’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $5,332,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Accredited Investors Inc. increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 9,235.4% during the 3rd quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 784,924 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $458,929,000 after purchasing an additional 776,516 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 129.7% in the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 581,324 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,540,102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $26,626,387,000 after purchasing an additional 563,554 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter valued at about $276,785,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 89.3% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 702,722 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $355,479,000 after acquiring an additional 331,539 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on UNH. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

NYSE UNH opened at $470.49 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $432.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.35, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52-week low of $436.38 and a 52-week 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $518.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $559.08.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. The firm 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.83 EPS. Analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.19%.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The stock was purchased 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 owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,302,065. This trade represents a 28.57 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.