New England Research & Management Inc. Trims Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH

New England Research & Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 83.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,325 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 6,795 shares during the period. New England Research & Management Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $458,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 176.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 44,249 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $22,384,000 after acquiring an additional 28,231 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 137.1% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,019 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $2,033,000 after buying an additional 2,324 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 1st quarter worth about $734,000. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 15.4% in the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 6,776 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,549,000 after purchasing an additional 906 shares during the period. Finally, Granite Harbor Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 16.4% in the first quarter. Granite Harbor Advisors Inc. now owns 1,302 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $682,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on UNH shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $317.00 to $409.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $433.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $267.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $423.00 to $417.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $385.54.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UNH stock opened at $341.46 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $309.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.82, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.43. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $339.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $317.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $234.60 and a twelve month high of $606.36.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $113.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $113.19 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 4.04% and a return on equity of 19.23%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $7.15 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

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

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.