UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Sold by Cottonwood Capital Advisors LLC

Cottonwood Capital Advisors LLC lowered its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 638 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 32 shares during the quarter. Cottonwood Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $323,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of UNH. Eclectic Associates Inc. ADV raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Eclectic Associates Inc. ADV now owns 9,798 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,956,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,532 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $8,363,000 after purchasing an additional 1,535 shares in the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 97,007 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $49,072,000 after buying an additional 1,288 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 10,853 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $5,490,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth about $3,542,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE:UNH opened at $532.26 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52-week low of $436.38 and a 52-week high of $630.73. The company has a market capitalization of $489.83 billion, a PE ratio of 34.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.62. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $542.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $563.54.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.83 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,302,065. The trade was a 28.57 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer raised their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. TD Cowen raised their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, HSBC raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $627.74.

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.