UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Sold by Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc.

Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 8.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 5,961 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 569 shares during the quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $3,138,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $210,000. McGowan Group Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 8.9% during the 1st quarter. McGowan Group Asset Management Inc. now owns 744 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $379,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 31.8% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 250,196 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $127,592,000 after purchasing an additional 60,300 shares in the last quarter. MAS Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 10.8% in the 1st quarter. MAS Advisors LLC now owns 463 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $241,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Western Trust Bank purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $875,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $525.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $584.00 to $581.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $610.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $618.00 to $584.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $573.80.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 5.7 %

UNH traded up $25.40 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $471.03. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 9,684,918 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,372,831. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $554.70. The stock has a market cap of $434.26 billion, a PE ratio of 19.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.54. The business’s 50-day moving average is $491.15 and its 200-day moving average is $515.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.54 by $0.37. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.39% and a net margin of 6.02%. The company had revenue of $99.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $6.26 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $1.88 per share. This represents a $7.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.54%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

UnitedHealth Group Company 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.