Costello Asset Management INC Cuts Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH

Key Points

• Costello Asset Management INC significantly reduced its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 81.3%, ending with 530 shares valued at $165,000.
• Other institutional investors, such as Vanguard Group and Wellington Management, have increased their stakes in UnitedHealth Group, indicating mixed sentiment among major investors.
• UnitedHealth Group reported $4.08 earnings per share in its recent quarterly results, missing expectations, while its stock has a market cap of $333.01 billion.

Costello Asset Management INC decreased its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 81.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 530 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after selling 2,305 shares during the period. Costello Asset Management INC's holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $165,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 6.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,729,585 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $47,519,620,000 after buying an additional 5,583,343 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 10.6% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,847,940 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $13,537,859,000 after purchasing an additional 2,486,839 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,128,174 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $4,257,131,000 after purchasing an additional 196,696 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the first quarter worth about $3,846,764,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 13.6% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,070,385 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $3,702,736,000 after purchasing an additional 847,054 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company's stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $367.69 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $315.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $351.51. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $234.60 and a 1-year high of $630.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market cap of $333.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.47.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.45 by ($0.37). UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 5.04% and a return on equity of 23.32%. The firm had revenue of $111.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $111.75 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.80 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. UnitedHealth Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 16.000- EPS. On average, analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a $2.21 dividend. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 38.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on UNH. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday. Baird R W cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $267.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $325.00 to $395.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $383.09.

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.

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