Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA Decreases Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA trimmed its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 4,190 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 115 shares during the quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $2,144,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Robbins Farley purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Richelieu Gestion SA acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. CGC Financial Services LLC grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1,000.0% during the 4th quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 55 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 340.0% during the 3rd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 66 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 148.1% during the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 67 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total transaction of $451,127.82. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,289 shares in the company, valued at $16,977,233.31. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other UnitedHealth Group news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total transaction of $451,127.82. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,289 shares in the company, valued at $16,977,233.31. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total value of $597,581.28. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,364 shares in the company, valued at $4,527,306.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $610.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. HSBC upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $460.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays upped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $534.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $566.00 to $571.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $545.00 to $562.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $570.05.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

NYSE UNH traded down $2.93 on Tuesday, reaching $488.30. 1,786,293 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,518,456. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $488.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $515.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company has a market cap of $450.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.54. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $436.38 and a 12 month high of $554.70.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.63 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $99.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.23 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.50% and a net margin of 4.05%. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $6.26 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were issued a dividend of $1.88 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $7.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is 45.97%.

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.