Asset Dedication LLC Decreases Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH

Asset Dedication LLC lessened its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 15.0% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 9,139 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,619 shares during the quarter. Asset Dedication LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $2,851,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 176.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 44,249 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $22,384,000 after purchasing an additional 28,231 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 137.1% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,019 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,033,000 after buying an additional 2,324 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,889 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,037,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 453.4% in the 1st quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. now owns 132,198 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $69,238,000 after acquiring an additional 108,309 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Family Office LLC grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 12.5% during the first quarter. Boston Family Office LLC now owns 5,805 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,040,000 after purchasing an additional 647 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UNH has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $267.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Barclays increased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $352.00 to $386.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $325.00 to $395.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. Weiss Ratings raised UnitedHealth Group from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $310.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $385.54.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

NYSE UNH opened at $341.83 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $309.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.43. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $234.60 and a 1 year high of $606.36. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $339.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $317.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $2.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.87 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $113.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $113.19 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 4.04% and a return on equity of 19.23%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $7.15 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 8th will be issued a dividend of $2.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 8th. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.14%.

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.