UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Sold by Vigilare Wealth Management

Vigilare Wealth Management decreased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH – Get Rating) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,352 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 29 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group makes up approximately 0.7% of Vigilare Wealth Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Vigilare Wealth Management’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,247,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 82,969,869 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $41,903,103,000 after buying an additional 851,994 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 2.0% in the second quarter. FMR LLC now owns 49,813,470 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $25,585,693,000 after purchasing an additional 998,214 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 17.8% in the second quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 36,853,394 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $18,929,009,000 after purchasing an additional 5,556,335 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 5.3% in the third quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 7,276,059 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,674,701,000 after purchasing an additional 367,153 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 2.1% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,963,772 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,576,829,000 after purchasing an additional 143,238 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on UNH shares. Raymond James downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $615.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, November 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $617.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 24th. Loop Capital increased their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $575.00 to $590.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 17th. Credit Suisse Group increased their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 7th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $605.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Tuesday, February 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $599.68.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

NYSE UNH opened at $469.50 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $483.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $510.78. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $449.70 and a twelve month high of $558.10. The company has a market capitalization of $437.97 billion, a PE ratio of 22.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 13th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $5.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.17 by $0.17. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 27.04% and a net margin of 6.21%. The firm had revenue of $82.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $82.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.48 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 24.91 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 13th will be issued a $1.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 10th. This represents a $6.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.15%.

About UnitedHealth Group

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UnitedHealth Group, Inc engages in the provision of health care coverage, software, and data consultancy services. It operates through the following segments: UnitedHealthcare, OptumHealth, OptumInsight, and OptumRx. The UnitedHealthcare segment utilizes Optum’s capabilities to help coordinate patient care, improve affordability of medical care, analyze cost trends, manage pharmacy benefits, work with care providers more effectively, and create a simpler consumer experience.