UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Sold by Arvest Bank Trust Division

Arvest Bank Trust Division lowered its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 24.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,493 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 480 shares during the period. Arvest Bank Trust Division’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $755,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NewSquare Capital LLC purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on UNH. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $650.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. HSBC upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Twenty-one analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $632.85.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $585.30 on Thursday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $438.50 and a 12-month high of $630.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $535.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $516.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $542.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

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

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.