Brown Financial Advisors Sells 54 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Brown Financial Advisors trimmed its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,688 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 54 shares during the quarter. Brown Financial Advisors’ holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $2,371,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 20.8% during the 4th quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 22,911 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $11,590,000 after purchasing an additional 3,948 shares during the last quarter. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,459,000. Impax Asset Management Group plc acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at $700,000. Quartz Partners LLC grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Quartz Partners LLC now owns 482 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $244,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Edge Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC now owns 2,700 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,366,000 after buying an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $461.09 on Tuesday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $436.38 and a 12-month high of $630.73. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $518.52 and its 200-day moving average is $559.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $424.33 billion, a PE ratio of 29.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The business had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.83 EPS. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.82%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 54.19%.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,302,065. This trade represents a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on UNH. Stephens raised their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Hsbc Global Res raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. HSBC upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $629.32.

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.