Samalin Investment Counsel LLC Has $865,000 Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Samalin Investment Counsel LLC cut its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 45.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,710 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,402 shares during the quarter. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $865,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of UNH. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth $1,914,740,000. Amundi grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 97.2% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 6,069,100 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,183,132,000 after purchasing an additional 2,991,470 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 76,830.4% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,888,641 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $955,388,000 after purchasing an additional 1,886,186 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 129.7% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,029,540 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $601,951,000 after purchasing an additional 581,324 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 1.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,540,102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $26,626,387,000 after purchasing an additional 563,554 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,000 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,302,065. The trade was a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stephens raised 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. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $700.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UNH opened at $517.72 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $473.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.40, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $510.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $547.11. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $436.38 and a twelve month high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The company’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.83 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.62%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.19%.

UnitedHealth Group Company 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.