Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC Has $12.22 Million Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC reduced its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 20,892 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 922 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group accounts for 0.9% of Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $12,215,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 84,405,255 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $41,755,280,000 after buying an additional 544,740 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,062,928 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $12,893,331,000 after buying an additional 94,641 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,039,601 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,094,247,000 after purchasing an additional 35,533 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 78,814.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,296,737 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,096,896,000 after purchasing an additional 5,290,025 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 30.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,816,254 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,942,956,000 after purchasing an additional 880,183 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 5.2 %

NYSE UNH opened at $596.69 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $551.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $436.38 and a 52 week high of $608.63. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $581.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $543.74.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.00 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $100.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.14 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. UnitedHealth Group’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.56 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 54.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group cut their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays lowered their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $604.00 to $603.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $481.00 to $647.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $597.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Argus raised their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $615.53.

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.