Ritholtz Wealth Management Trims Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH

Ritholtz Wealth Management lowered its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 23.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,010 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 4,396 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $4,371,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bayforest Capital Ltd increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 685.7% in the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 55 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 416.7% in the first quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 62 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Kentucky Trust Co increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 53.8% in the second quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 143 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 74.0% in the 1st quarter. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC now owns 87 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the first quarter worth about $53,000. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $360.77 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $325.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $347.17. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $234.60 and a 1-year high of $630.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market cap of $326.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.47.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.45 by ($0.37). The business had revenue of $111.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.75 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 23.32% and a net margin of 5.04%.The company’s revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $6.80 earnings per share. UnitedHealth Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 16.000- EPS. On average, analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a dividend of $2.21 per share. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Robert W. Baird reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $198.00 price objective (down from $312.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $325.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $355.00 to $286.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $267.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $384.09.

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.