Fairscale Capital LLC Trims Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Fairscale Capital LLC lowered its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,483 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 61 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group accounts for 1.1% of Fairscale Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Fairscale Capital LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,256,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SLT Holdings LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,459,000. AlphaQuest LLC increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 187.7% in the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 676 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $342,000 after purchasing an additional 441 shares during the period. Miramar Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Miramar Capital LLC now owns 23,425 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $11,850,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the period. Argentarii LLC purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth $1,887,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth about $62,838,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,302,065. This represents a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UNH has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNH opened at $493.35 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $513.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $553.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $436.38 and a 52 week high of $630.73. The company has a market cap of $451.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62.

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

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.70%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.19%.

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.