Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 1,474 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lessened its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 9.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,955 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,474 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $7,059,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 220,590 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $128,975,000 after purchasing an additional 26,074 shares during the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 17.6% in the 4th quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,957 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,025,000 after buying an additional 1,193 shares in the last quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 9,115 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,611,000 after acquiring an additional 1,051 shares in the last quarter. Waycross Partners LLC grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Waycross Partners LLC now owns 27,794 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $14,060,000 after purchasing an additional 658 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $558,000. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,302,065. The trade was a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UNH has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays decreased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. HSBC raised shares of 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. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $650.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $524.56 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $479.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.84, a P/E/G 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $508.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $541.48.

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 net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The firm had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.83 EPS. UnitedHealth Group’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.19%.

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.