Formidable Asset Management LLC Sells 188 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Formidable Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,129 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 188 shares during the period. Formidable Asset Management LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $2,595,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,956,219 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $10,068,869,000 after purchasing an additional 319,515 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,616,007 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $7,899,905,000 after purchasing an additional 906,365 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth about $6,375,744,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,503,671 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,807,527,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058,488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,923,770 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,514,178,000 after purchasing an additional 861,854 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other UnitedHealth Group news, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley purchased 86,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $288.57 per share, with a total value of $25,019,019.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 679,493 shares in the company, valued at $196,081,295.01. This trade represents a 14.63% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John H. Noseworthy purchased 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $312.16 per share, for a total transaction of $93,648.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 6,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,892,626.08. The trade was a 5.21% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768 over the last ninety days. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UNH stock opened at $295.37 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $452.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $505.07. The company has a market cap of $267.94 billion, a PE ratio of 19.06, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $248.88 and a 12-month 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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.29 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $109.58 billion for 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $6.91 earnings per share. Analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.18%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on UNH. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $510.00 to $356.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Wolfe Research decreased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $501.00 to $390.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $560.00 to $350.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. HSBC reaffirmed a “reduce” rating and set a $270.00 price target (down previously from $490.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Argus downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $441.87.

UnitedHealth Group 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.