Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC Reduces Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lowered its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 7.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 108,342 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 9,274 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $33,799,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of UNH. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,729,585 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $47,519,620,000 after buying an additional 5,583,343 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 10.6% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,847,940 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $13,537,859,000 after purchasing an additional 2,486,839 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,312,182 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,624,411,000 after buying an additional 675,075 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,502,469 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $2,340,346,000 after acquiring an additional 432,084 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the first quarter worth about $3,846,764,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 2.5%

UNH stock opened at $319.40 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.85. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $234.60 and a 12 month high of $622.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $289.32 billion, a PE ratio of 16.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.47. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $344.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $315.86.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its earnings results 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. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 19.23% and a net margin of 4.04%.The firm had revenue of $113.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $113.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $7.15 EPS. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on UNH. Baird R W cut UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group increased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $378.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $352.00 to $386.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. 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 note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $433.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Eighteen 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, UnitedHealth Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.