Founders Financial Securities LLC Decreases Stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Founders Financial Securities LLC trimmed its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 12.8% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 6,921 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,018 shares during the period. Founders Financial Securities LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $3,424,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Waverly Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 8.7% during the third quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 5,088 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,565,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter worth $1,127,000. Kidder Stephen W grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 10.0% in the third quarter. Kidder Stephen W now owns 13,771 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,943,000 after buying an additional 1,251 shares in the last quarter. Gateway Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Gateway Advisory LLC now owns 9,399 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,739,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares during the period. Finally, Provident Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 3.9% during the third quarter. Provident Investment Management Inc. now owns 88,459 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $44,600,000 after purchasing an additional 3,347 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UNH traded up $22.82 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $509.26. 22,734,197 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,685,941. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $498.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $501.96. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52-week low of $436.38 and a 52-week high of $554.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $468.72 billion, a PE ratio of 31.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.63 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $99.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.23 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 4.05% and a return on equity of 26.50%. The business’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $6.26 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.57 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 17th were given a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.65%. This is a positive change from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.88. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 17th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on UNH shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $546.00 to $559.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $545.00 to $562.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. HSBC upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $580.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Baird R W raised UnitedHealth Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $579.74.

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.