EdgeRock Capital LLC Reduces Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

EdgeRock Capital LLC cut its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,795 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 41 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group makes up 0.6% of EdgeRock Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. EdgeRock Capital LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $908,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 88.0% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 258,833 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $151,374,000 after purchasing an additional 121,180 shares during the period. Hudson Value Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 1,069 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $625,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. Wealth Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 1,777 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,039,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter valued at about $341,000. Finally, Financial Management Professionals Inc. raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 58.4% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 2,116 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,237,000 after purchasing an additional 780 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on UNH. HSBC upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays cut 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. Hsbc Global Res upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $461.09 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $424.33 billion, a PE ratio of 29.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $630.73. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $518.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $559.70. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.83 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.82%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.19%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,000 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,302,065. This trade represents a 28.57 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.