Anchor Capital Advisors LLC Has $17.16 Million Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Anchor Capital Advisors LLC lowered its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 32,601 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,617 shares during the period. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $17,163,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Bray Capital Advisors lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.5% during the third quarter. Bray Capital Advisors now owns 9,616 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,848,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 2.9% in the third quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 3,237 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,632,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6.6% during the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 18,354 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $9,254,000 after acquiring an additional 1,139 shares during the period. KRS Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. KRS Capital Management LLC now owns 2,557 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,289,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TFG Advisers LLC boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 2.9% in the third quarter. TFG Advisers LLC now owns 8,591 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,331,000 after buying an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on UNH. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $607.00 to $546.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, HSBC raised UnitedHealth Group from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $460.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $570.05.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 transaction of $597,581.28. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,527,306.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total transaction of $597,581.28. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,527,306.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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. Company insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock traded down $6.32 on Monday, reaching $489.03. 2,192,129 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,479,953. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company has a 50-day moving average of $485.84 and a 200 day moving average of $514.07. The company has a market capitalization of $449.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.02, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.54. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $436.38 and a one year high of $554.70.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.63 by $0.28. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 4.05% and a return on equity of 26.50%. The firm had revenue of $99.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $6.26 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $7.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 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.