Kensington Investment Counsel LLC Trims Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Kensington Investment Counsel LLC trimmed its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,661 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 94 shares during the quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,346,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Wallace Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.9% in the third quarter. Wallace Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,119 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,239,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the period. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP grew its stake 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 in the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 2,578 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,304,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC grew its stake 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 in the last quarter. Finally, 44 Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,309 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $662,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were purchased at an average cost 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 approximately $2,302,065. The trade was a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UNH stock opened at $499.01 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $456.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The business has a fifty day moving average of $511.11 and a 200 day moving average of $549.15. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $630.73.

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

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.68%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 54.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on UNH. Hsbc Global Res raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $700.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group 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.