Aviva PLC Sells 144,457 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Aviva PLC cut its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 13.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 892,380 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 144,457 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group accounts for 1.2% of Aviva PLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Aviva PLC owned approximately 0.10% of UnitedHealth Group worth $451,419,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,956,219 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $10,068,869,000 after purchasing an additional 319,515 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at $6,375,744,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,923,770 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,514,178,000 after purchasing an additional 861,854 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,931,478 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,012,218,000 after purchasing an additional 36,394 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,223,331 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,148,134,000 after buying an additional 182,361 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on UNH shares. Barclays dropped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $629.32.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,000 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,302,065. This represents a 28.57 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

UNH stock opened at $524.94 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $480.17 billion, a PE ratio of 33.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $509.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $542.37. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $436.38 and a 1-year high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced 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 period last year, the company posted $5.83 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 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.