UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Sold by Level Four Advisory Services LLC

Level Four Advisory Services LLC trimmed its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 33,760 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 391 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group comprises approximately 0.7% of Level Four Advisory Services LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Level Four Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $17,078,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in UNH. NewSquare Capital LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on UNH. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $700.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $629.32.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,302,065. This represents a 28.57 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of UNH stock opened at $515.89 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $508.70 and its 200-day moving average is $545.16. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $630.73. The stock has a market cap of $471.89 billion, a PE ratio of 33.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.83 EPS. Equities analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.63%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.19%.

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.