Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Reduces Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP reduced its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 2.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 230,033 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 6,141 shares during the quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $71,763,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GDS Wealth Management grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 95.7% in the second quarter. GDS Wealth Management now owns 49,549 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $15,458,000 after purchasing an additional 24,224 shares in the last quarter. Rovida Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,677,000. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 32.6% in the second quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 1,997,274 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $623,090,000 after buying an additional 490,726 shares in the last quarter. Quilter Plc purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Finally, Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 112.9% in the 2nd quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 132 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 1.3%

NYSE UNH opened at $312.99 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market cap of $283.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.47. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $346.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $317.57. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $234.60 and a fifty-two week high of $622.83.

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

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 8th will be given a $2.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 8th. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UNH has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $400.00 to $325.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Barclays raised their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $352.00 to $386.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $335.00 to $338.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $397.12.

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.