The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Cuts Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 9.4% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,984,371 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 205,820 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $619,064,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Caitlin John LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 14.8% in the 1st quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 862 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $451,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 21.8% in the second quarter. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC now owns 4,425 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,380,000 after buying an additional 791 shares in the last quarter. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 2nd quarter worth $1,324,000. Wealth Effects LLC grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 14.4% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Effects LLC now owns 4,688 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,463,000 after acquiring an additional 591 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 48.9% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,790 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,806,000 after acquiring an additional 1,901 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on UNH shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $317.00 to $409.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $333.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $406.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $352.00 to $386.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $385.54.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 1.5%

UNH opened at $328.40 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $297.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.43. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $234.60 and a 12 month high of $606.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The business has a 50-day moving average of $340.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $316.45.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $2.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.87 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $113.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $113.19 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 4.04% and a return on equity of 19.23%. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $7.15 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 8th will be issued a $2.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 8th. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.14%.

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.