UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Stake Lowered by Cooper Haims Advisors LLC

Cooper Haims Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 820 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 40 shares during the quarter. Cooper Haims Advisors LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $415,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 902 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $456,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. MCF Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 2,578 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,304,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC now owns 575 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Richwood Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Richwood Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,247 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $2,654,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 44 Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,309 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $662,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. 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. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $650.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $700.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Barclays lowered their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

NYSE UNH opened at $524.56 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $508.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $541.48. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $630.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $479.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.83 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. 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%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 acquisition, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,302,065. The trade was a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Company 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.