White Pine Capital LLC Decreases Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

White Pine Capital LLC reduced its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 15.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,544 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 283 shares during the period. White Pine Capital LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $813,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 53,573.1% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,352,490 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,238,515,000 after purchasing an additional 2,348,107 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 49.3% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,617,813 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,904,670,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195,352 shares in the last quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 75.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 2,011,150 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,014,002,000 after purchasing an additional 862,024 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 35.9% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 3,090,986 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,627,311,000 after purchasing an additional 815,822 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 20.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,725,650 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,879,245,000 after purchasing an additional 623,631 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $618.00 to $584.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $610.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $596.00 to $555.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $545.00 to $562.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $570.05.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock traded up $1.49 on Friday, hitting $495.35. The company had a trading volume of 2,727,016 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,623,667. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $485.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $514.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The company has a market cap of $455.76 billion, a PE ratio of 30.28, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.54. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $436.38 and a 52 week high of $554.70.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.63 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $99.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.23 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 4.05% and a return on equity of 26.50%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.26 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were given a $1.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $7.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.52%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other UnitedHealth Group news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total value of $597,581.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,527,306.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total transaction of $451,127.82. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,977,233.31. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total transaction of $597,581.28. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,527,306.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

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.