Provident Investment Management Inc. Sells 84,546 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH

Provident Investment Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 96.6% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,992 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 84,546 shares during the period. Provident Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $933,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the second quarter worth $25,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 685.7% during the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 55 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Sagard Holdings Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Islay Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 69.4% in the 2nd quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 105 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $341.83 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $309.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.43. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $234.60 and a 52 week high of $606.36. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $339.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $317.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $2.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.87 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $113.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $113.19 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 19.23% and a net margin of 4.04%.The business’s revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $7.15 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 8th will be paid a dividend of $2.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 8th. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on UNH shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $440.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $310.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $352.00 to $386.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $433.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised UnitedHealth Group from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $385.54.

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.