Olstein Capital Management L.P. Lowers Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Olstein Capital Management L.P. lessened its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 27.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,000 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 4,500 shares during the period. Olstein Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $7,016,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 84,405,255 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $41,755,280,000 after buying an additional 544,740 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,062,928 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $12,893,331,000 after acquiring an additional 94,641 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,039,601 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,094,247,000 after purchasing an additional 35,533 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 78,814.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,296,737 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,096,896,000 after buying an additional 5,290,025 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 30.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,816,254 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,942,956,000 after acquiring an additional 880,183 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $591.00 to $644.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $481.00 to $647.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $615.53.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock traded up $5.19 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $601.88. 270,094 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,883,210. The company has a market cap of $555.79 billion, a PE ratio of 38.87, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.58. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $436.38 and a twelve month high of $608.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $581.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $543.74.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.00 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $100.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.14 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The business’s revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $6.56 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.72%.

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.