Violich Capital Management Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH

Key Points

• Violich Capital Management Inc. has reduced its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 16.8%, now owning 29,600 shares, which represents 1.3% of its portfolio.
• Analyst ratings for UnitedHealth Group vary; Wells Fargo & KeyCorp both raised their target prices to $400, while Baird R W downgraded it to a "strong sell."
• UnitedHealth Group recently announced a quarterly dividend of $2.21 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 2.5%.

Violich Capital Management Inc. trimmed its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 16.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 29,600 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after selling 5,990 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group comprises 1.3% of Violich Capital Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Violich Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $9,234,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bayforest Capital Ltd lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 685.7% during the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 55 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 416.7% during the 1st quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 62 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 74.0% during the 1st quarter. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC now owns 87 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Nova Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 339.1% during the 1st quarter. Nova Wealth Management Inc. now owns 101 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $53,000. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UNH has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $267.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Zacks Research raised UnitedHealth Group from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Baird R W downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $325.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Eighteen investment 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $385.13.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of UNH stock opened at $356.53 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $234.60 and a twelve month high of $630.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $322.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.47. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $329.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $343.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

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

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were given a dividend of $2.21 per share. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 38.30%.

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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