Highland Capital Management LLC Decreases Stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Highland Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 31.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,075 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 4,546 shares during the quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $5,891,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in UNH. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 84,405,255 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $41,755,280,000 after acquiring an additional 544,740 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,062,928 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $12,893,331,000 after purchasing an additional 94,641 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,039,601 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,094,247,000 after buying an additional 35,533 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 78,814.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,296,737 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,096,896,000 after acquiring an additional 5,290,025 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 30.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,816,254 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,942,956,000 after acquiring an additional 880,183 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $564.56 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $521.33 billion, a PE ratio of 36.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.58. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $608.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $583.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $537.42.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.00 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $100.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.14 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 26.37%. The company’s revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.56 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 54.72%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UNH has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. KeyCorp initiated coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, October 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $675.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays cut their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $604.00 to $603.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group dropped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $591.00 to $644.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $615.53.

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.