EP Wealth Advisors LLC Has $42.26 Million Stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 83,544 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after selling 3,106 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $42,261,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,956,219 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $10,068,869,000 after acquiring an additional 319,515 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,616,007 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $7,899,905,000 after purchasing an additional 906,365 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth about $6,375,744,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,503,671 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $4,807,527,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058,488 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,923,770 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $4,514,178,000 after purchasing an additional 861,854 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in 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. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $642.00 to $560.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $652.00 to $525.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $664.00 to $563.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $596.86.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 2.4 %

NYSE UNH opened at $395.21 on Wednesday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $493.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $526.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $359.73 billion, a PE ratio of 25.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $393.11 and a 12 month high of $630.73.

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

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group's payout ratio is 35.18%.

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.

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