D Orazio & Associates Inc. Trims Stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH

D Orazio & Associates Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 0.5% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 48,377 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 262 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group makes up about 2.1% of D Orazio & Associates Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. D Orazio & Associates Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $15,092,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of UNH. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,729,585 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $47,519,620,000 after buying an additional 5,583,343 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 10.6% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,847,940 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $13,537,859,000 after acquiring an additional 2,486,839 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.3% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,312,182 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $6,624,411,000 after purchasing an additional 675,075 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 1st quarter valued at $3,846,764,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 13.6% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,070,385 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,702,736,000 after buying an additional 847,054 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNH opened at $339.18 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $234.60 and a 52 week high of $622.83. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $347.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $320.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $307.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.70, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.47.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $2.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.87 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $113.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $113.19 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 19.23% and a net margin of 4.04%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $7.15 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 8th will be given a dividend of $2.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 8th. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 46.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $423.00 to $417.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. UBS Group upped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $378.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $286.00 to $408.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $317.00 to $409.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $397.12.

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.