Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC Lowers Stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 3.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,130 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 35 shares during the quarter. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $661,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 20.6% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 10,867 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $5,376,000 after buying an additional 1,857 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 4,196 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,076,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Ossiam grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.9% during the first quarter. Ossiam now owns 120,403 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $59,563,000 after buying an additional 2,199 shares in the last quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 1st quarter valued at $1,015,000. Finally, Payden & Rygel Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 1st quarter worth about $15,029,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on UNH. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $591.00 to $644.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. KeyCorp started coverage on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, October 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $675.00 target price on the stock. Stephens lowered their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $632.00 to $605.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $615.53.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UNH opened at $589.65 on Tuesday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $436.38 and a 52 week high of $630.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The company has a market capitalization of $542.64 billion, a PE ratio of 38.41, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $582.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $550.66.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.00 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $100.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 for the quarter was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $6.56 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.72%.

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.