Mason & Associates Inc Sells 22 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Mason & Associates Inc reduced its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 0.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,084 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 22 shares during the period. Mason & Associates Inc’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $2,388,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of UNH. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter worth $27,000. Macroview Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 671.4% in the second quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 54 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 757.1% in the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 60 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the second quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 152.4% during the third quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 53 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $481.00 to $647.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Argus increased their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Stephens reduced their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $632.00 to $605.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $615.53.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

UNH stock opened at $560.82 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $517.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.54, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $584.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $536.49. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $436.38 and a one year high of $608.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.91.

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

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 54.72%.

About UnitedHealth Group

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.