UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Sold by Snowden Capital Advisors LLC

Snowden Capital Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 21.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 40,202 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after selling 11,225 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group accounts for about 0.6% of Snowden Capital Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $20,337,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position 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 last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,616,007 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $7,899,905,000 after purchasing an additional 906,365 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $6,375,744,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,503,671 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $4,807,527,000 after acquiring an additional 1,058,488 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,923,770 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $4,514,178,000 after acquiring an additional 861,854 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on UNH shares. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $525.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. HSBC reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $490.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Raymond James cut UnitedHealth Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $700.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $521.00 to $362.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $508.38.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 11.1%

Shares of UNH opened at $273.96 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $474.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $515.82. The stock has a market cap of $248.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56. 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 Incorporated has a 1-year low of $248.88 and a 1-year high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $7.29 by ($0.09). UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The company had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $6.91 EPS. Equities analysts forecast 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, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.07%. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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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