Summit Global Investments Sells 1,207 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Summit Global Investments lowered its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 23.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,968 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,207 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments’ holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $2,007,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. NewSquare Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on UNH. Barclays lowered their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $700.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. HSBC upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNH opened at $517.72 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market cap of $473.57 billion, a PE ratio of 33.40, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $510.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $547.11. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $436.38 and a 12-month high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The firm had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.83 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.62%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.19%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,302,065. The trade was a 28.57 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.