Arvest Bank Trust Division Reduces Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Arvest Bank Trust Division decreased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 24.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,493 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after selling 480 shares during the quarter. Arvest Bank Trust Division's holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $755,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. Norges Bank bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth about $6,375,744,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,914,740,000. Amundi increased its holdings in shares of 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 position in UnitedHealth Group by 76,830.4% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,888,641 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $955,388,000 after buying an additional 1,886,186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,923,770 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $4,514,178,000 after purchasing an additional 861,854 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $700.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Erste Group Bank raised UnitedHealth Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. HSBC upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $595.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Raymond James reissued a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $540.00 price target (down from $635.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $615.24.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 5.1 %

NYSE:UNH traded down $23.17 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $430.94. 6,781,725 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,375,469. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $512.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $539.93. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $427.21 and a one year high of $630.73. The company has a market cap of $394.19 billion, a PE ratio of 27.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

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

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.95%. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 54.19%.

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.