Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 24 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC cut its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 572 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 24 shares during the period. Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $289,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE UNH traded down $4.15 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $520.37. 3,581,933 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,867,549. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $556.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $561.20. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $436.38 and a 52 week high of $630.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $478.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.62.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.00 by $0.15. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 26.37%. The business had revenue of $100.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $6.56 earnings per share. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were given 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 1.61%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.72%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Hsbc Global Res cut UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays boosted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $603.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Stephens increased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $626.79.

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.