Curbstone Financial Management Corp Cuts Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Curbstone Financial Management Corp reduced its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,164 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 42 shares during the period. Curbstone Financial Management Corp’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $681,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of UNH. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 55.0% during the 4th quarter. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,760 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,453,000 after purchasing an additional 979 shares during the last quarter. CenterBook Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 69.6% during the 4th quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 11,749 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $6,185,000 after purchasing an additional 4,821 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorShares Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $416,000. Delaney Dennis R boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Delaney Dennis R now owns 8,051 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,239,000 after purchasing an additional 925 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Broderick Brian C boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Broderick Brian C now owns 18,607 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $9,796,000 after purchasing an additional 713 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 2,851 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $569.88, for a total transaction of $1,624,727.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,501 shares in the company, valued at $16,812,029.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other UnitedHealth Group news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $579.03, for a total value of $868,545.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,507,748.55. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 2,851 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $569.88, for a total transaction of $1,624,727.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,812,029.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UNH has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $481.00 to $647.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group upped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. StockNews.com cut UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $560.00 to $604.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $614.17.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

NYSE:UNH opened at $592.75 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $547.36 billion, a PE ratio of 36.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.58. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $581.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $526.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $436.38 and a 12 month high of $607.94.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.66 by $0.14. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.55% and a net margin of 3.66%. The firm had revenue of $98.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $98.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $6.14 earnings per share. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.34%.

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.