UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Sold by Lord Abbett & CO. LLC

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lessened its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 29.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 555,809 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 227,334 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group comprises 0.9% of Lord Abbett & CO. LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $281,162,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $6,375,744,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,914,740,000. Amundi increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 97.2% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 6,069,100 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,183,132,000 after buying an additional 2,991,470 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 76,830.4% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,888,641 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $955,388,000 after purchasing an additional 1,886,186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,616,007 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $7,899,905,000 after buying an additional 906,365 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on UNH shares. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $650.00 to $575.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $700.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Argus downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $664.00 to $563.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $603.05.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of UNH opened at $424.70 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $417.12 and a 12-month high of $630.73. The firm has a market cap of $388.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $504.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $536.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.29 by ($0.09). UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The company had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $6.91 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.98%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.18%.

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.