Sheets Smith Wealth Management Decreases Stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Sheets Smith Wealth Management cut its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 8.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,936 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 458 shares during the period. Sheets Smith Wealth Management’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $2,497,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MCF Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 2,578 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,304,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 22,361 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $11,312,000 after acquiring an additional 2,650 shares during the period. Aspire Private Capital LLC lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Aspire Private Capital LLC now owns 1,942 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $982,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Commons Capital LLC raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Commons Capital LLC now owns 3,451 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,746,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 528,638 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $267,417,000 after acquiring an additional 11,812 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 2.9 %

UNH stock opened at $524.78 on Wednesday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $436.38 and a one year high of $630.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $482.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.86, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $547.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $563.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.83 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.77 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on UNH. Truist Financial reduced their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $627.74.

UnitedHealth Group Company 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.