UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Sold by ST Germain D J Co. Inc.

ST Germain D J Co. Inc. trimmed its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 0.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,794 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 47 shares during the quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $10,287,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of UNH. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 83,860,515 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $44,150,045,000 after purchasing an additional 250,291 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 2.1% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,220,234 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $12,715,790,000 after acquiring an additional 527,526 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 15,122,203 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $7,961,369,000 after purchasing an additional 324,733 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,860,985 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,244,158,000 after buying an additional 542,424 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth $5,802,231,000. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on UNH. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $545.00 to $562.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $607.00 to $546.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $546.00 to $559.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $579.74.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

NYSE UNH traded down $8.18 on Tuesday, reaching $481.05. 3,688,935 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,135,562. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company has a market cap of $442.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.58. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $494.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $505.48. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $436.38 and a 12 month high of $554.70.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.63 by $0.28. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 4.05% and a return on equity of 26.50%. The company had revenue of $99.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $6.26 EPS. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be issued a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.75%. This is a boost from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.88. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 17th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.97%.

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.