Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 3,263 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System decreased its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 6.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 49,680 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 3,263 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $25,131,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of UNH. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth about $1,914,740,000. Amundi increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 97.2% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 6,069,100 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,183,132,000 after buying an additional 2,991,470 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 76,830.4% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its position in shares of 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 worth $601,951,000 after purchasing an additional 581,324 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1.3% during 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on UNH shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Hsbc Global Res upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Barclays lowered their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $700.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $650.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $629.32.

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 shares were bought at an average price of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,302,065. This represents a 28.57 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $503.61 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $510.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $548.54. The company has a market capitalization of $460.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.49, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $436.38 and a 52 week high of $630.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The firm 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 firm earned $5.83 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm 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 1.67%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.