Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Sells 1,461 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lowered its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 313,427 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,461 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group accounts for 1.2% of Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $183,254,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. Tealwood Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter worth about $2,905,000. Asset Planning Services Inc. LA ADV increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 1.2% during the third quarter. Asset Planning Services Inc. LA ADV now owns 12,465 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $7,288,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 24,976 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $14,603,000 after acquiring an additional 3,006 shares during the last quarter. Americana Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 20,377 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $11,914,000 after purchasing an additional 1,984 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 14.8% during the second quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,960 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $5,072,000 after purchasing an additional 1,283 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $590.87 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $543.77 billion, a PE ratio of 38.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.58. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $436.38 and a 52 week high of $630.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $582.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $553.30.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.00 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $100.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.14 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 26.37%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $6.56 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.6 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 54.72%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UNH has been the topic of several recent research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $591.00 to $644.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. KeyCorp began coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $675.00 price objective for the company. Finally, HSBC downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $615.53.

UnitedHealth Group 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.