UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Sold by Ballast Advisors LLC

Ballast Advisors LLC lessened its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 11.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,104 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 147 shares during the period. Ballast Advisors LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $558,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of UNH. Howard Capital Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $341,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 11.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,778,636 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,039,933,000 after purchasing an additional 180,479 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 5.2% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 6,458 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,777,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,887 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,688,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 6.4% in the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 43,036 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $25,162,000 after acquiring an additional 2,600 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNH has been the topic of a number of research reports. 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 reduced their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Stephens raised their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, 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 note on Friday, January 10th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNH opened at $512.30 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $510.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $547.97. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73. The company has a market cap of $468.61 billion, a PE ratio of 33.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.83 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.64%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.19%.

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.