Hartford Investment Management Co. Lowers Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Hartford Investment Management Co. lessened its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 1.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 58,119 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 856 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group makes up approximately 1.1% of Hartford Investment Management Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $33,981,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Capital Insight Partners LLC lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 3.8% in the first quarter. Capital Insight Partners LLC now owns 9,045 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,475,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. Tealwood Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,905,000. Vantage Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 42.2% in the first quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC now owns 152,107 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $75,247,000 after purchasing an additional 45,173 shares in the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 72,689 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $35,126,000 after buying an additional 469 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concord Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 1st quarter valued at $14,544,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UNH has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Argus upped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $597.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, HSBC downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $615.53.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

UNH stock traded up $0.77 on Wednesday, hitting $570.63. The company had a trading volume of 325,865 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,936,739. The stock has a market cap of $526.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $436.38 and a 12-month high of $608.63. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $584.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $536.30.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.00 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $100.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.14 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $6.56 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 54.72%.

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.