UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Sold by Vicus Capital

Vicus Capital lessened its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 75.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 483 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,521 shares during the quarter. Vicus Capital’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $282,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Macroview Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 671.4% during the 2nd quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 54 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 757.1% during the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 60 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 152.4% during the 3rd quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 53 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. HSBC lowered UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. StockNews.com raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $615.53.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

UNH stock opened at $569.98 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $526.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.13, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $584.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $536.30. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $608.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.00 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $100.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.14 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $6.56 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.72%.

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.