Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Lowers Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lessened its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 9.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,928 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 291 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,481,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $6,375,744,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth about $1,914,740,000. Amundi raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 97.2% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 6,069,100 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,183,132,000 after purchasing an additional 2,991,470 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 76,830.4% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,888,641 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $955,388,000 after buying an additional 1,886,186 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,923,770 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,514,178,000 after acquiring an additional 861,854 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on UNH. HSBC upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Erste Group Bank raised shares of UnitedHealth Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $700.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut 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. Twenty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $632.85.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UNH stock opened at $456.10 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $512.95 and a 200 day moving average of $540.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $417.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $438.50 and a 1 year high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.29 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $6.91 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.84%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 54.19%.

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.