AQR Capital Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

AQR Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 6.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 223,238 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after selling 16,232 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC's holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $112,928,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 17.6% during the fourth quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,957 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $4,025,000 after acquiring an additional 1,193 shares during the last quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 9,115 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $4,611,000 after purchasing an additional 1,051 shares during the last quarter. Waycross Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Waycross Partners LLC now owns 27,794 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $14,060,000 after buying an additional 658 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 199,536 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $100,937,000 after acquiring an additional 11,426 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lmcg Investments LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC now owns 37,974 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $19,210,000 after purchasing an additional 4,022 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on UNH shares. Argus downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Erste Group Bank lowered UnitedHealth Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday. HSBC reissued a "hold" rating and set a $490.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Raymond James reissued a "strong-buy" rating and set a $540.00 price objective (down from $635.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $596.86.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

UNH traded down $1.96 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $398.72. The company had a trading volume of 11,384,114 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,602,582. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $393.11 and a 1 year high of $630.73. 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 company has a market cap of $362.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. The business has a 50-day moving average of $495.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $528.74.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $7.29 by ($0.09). UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The firm had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $6.91 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.18%.

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.