North Point Portfolio Managers Corp OH Cuts Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

North Point Portfolio Managers Corp OH lessened its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 24,774 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 822 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group comprises about 2.2% of North Point Portfolio Managers Corp OH’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. North Point Portfolio Managers Corp OH’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $12,532,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of UNH. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 78,814.4% in the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 5,290,025 shares during the period. Accredited Investors Inc. increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 9,235.4% during the third quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 784,924 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $458,929,000 after purchasing an additional 776,516 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 33.1% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,361,396 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,380,661,000 after buying an additional 587,088 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 129.7% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,029,540 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $601,951,000 after buying an additional 581,324 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,540,102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $26,626,387,000 after acquiring an additional 563,554 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on UNH shares. HSBC upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stephens lifted their target price 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. Finally, KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $627.74.

Insider Activity

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,302,065. This represents a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:UNH opened at $532.26 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market cap of $489.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.62. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $436.38 and a 1-year high of $630.73. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $541.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $564.79.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The firm had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.83 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.74 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 dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 54.19%.

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.