Trust Co of the South Decreases Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Trust Co of the South lessened its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 7.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,382 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 204 shares during the quarter. Trust Co of the South’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,205,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. M&T Bank Corp boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 220,590 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $128,975,000 after buying an additional 26,074 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 1,275.3% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 44,547 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $26,060,000 after purchasing an additional 41,308 shares during the last quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter worth approximately $21,165,000. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $558,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,061,916 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,884,019,000 after purchasing an additional 193,800 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UNH traded down $1.84 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $504.02. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,941,536 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,107,280. The company has a market cap of $463.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.58. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $436.38 and a one year high of $630.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $561.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $560.42.

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

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.67%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.72%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UNH has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $591.00 to $644.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Stephens increased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $628.37.

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.