Prudential Financial Inc. Sells 83,345 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Prudential Financial Inc. lowered its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 9.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 806,764 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 83,345 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group makes up 0.6% of Prudential Financial Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $408,110,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. NewSquare Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,302,065. The trade was a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of UNH stock opened at $517.72 on Monday. The company has a market cap 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $510.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $546.71. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $630.73.

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

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.62%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 54.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $700.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th. Oppenheimer increased their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays cut their target price 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. Finally, Stephens upped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $629.32.

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.