Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Has $586.58 Million Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership cut its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 25.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,159,559 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 400,078 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned about 0.13% of UnitedHealth Group worth $586,575,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. NewSquare Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, DecisionPoint Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 155.0% in the fourth quarter. DecisionPoint Financial LLC now owns 102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

NYSE:UNH opened at $515.47 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $471.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.26, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $436.38 and a 1-year high of $630.73. The business has a 50 day moving average of $508.81 and a 200 day moving average of $544.24.

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

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays reduced their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. HSBC raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. 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 report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Stephens upped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $629.32.

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.