Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC Reduces Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 14.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 69,168 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 11,382 shares during the quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $40,441,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1,275.3% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 44,547 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $26,060,000 after buying an additional 41,308 shares during the last quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $21,165,000. Tealwood Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,905,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $5,554,000. Finally, Asset Planning Services Inc. LA ADV increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.2% in the third quarter. Asset Planning Services Inc. LA ADV now owns 12,465 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $7,288,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 5.2 %

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $578.97 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $587.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $558.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $532.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.58. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $436.38 and a one year high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm’s revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $6.56 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.6 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 54.72%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on UNH. Barclays raised their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $603.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. StockNews.com lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. HSBC cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $625.00 price target (down previously from $640.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Four equities research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $625.26.

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.