Icon Advisers Inc. Co. Sells 4,916 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Icon Advisers Inc. Co. decreased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 60.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,203 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 4,916 shares during the period. Icon Advisers Inc. Co.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,620,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in UNH. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,956,219 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $10,068,869,000 after buying an additional 319,515 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at $6,375,744,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,923,770 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,514,178,000 after buying an additional 861,854 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings 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 valued at $4,012,218,000 after acquiring an additional 36,394 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 3.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 182,361 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 0.8 %

UNH opened at $599.10 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $548.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.65, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $438.50 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73. The company has a fifty day moving average of $512.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $541.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The company had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.83 EPS. UnitedHealth Group’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders 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 1.40%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on UNH shares. StockNews.com upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Mizuho upped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $700.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Barclays decreased 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. Twenty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $632.85.

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.