Weatherly Asset Management L. P. Sells 530 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Weatherly Asset Management L. P. decreased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,997 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 530 shares during the quarter. Weatherly Asset Management L. P.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $7,015,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 152.4% during the third quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 53 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. Macroview Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 671.4% in the 2nd quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 54 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Delos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 757.1% during the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 60 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UNH has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $597.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $481.00 to $647.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. HSBC downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $615.53.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UNH opened at $567.56 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $524.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $581.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $541.50. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $436.38 and a 12 month high of $608.63.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.00 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $100.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.14 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $6.56 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 54.72%.

UnitedHealth Group Company 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.