UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Sold by Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI

Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI reduced its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 29.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 480 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 204 shares during the quarter. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $243,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. NewSquare Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on UNH shares. Stephens increased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $629.32.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of UNH stock opened at $493.35 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $436.38 and a 1-year high of $630.73. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $513.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $553.57. The firm has a market cap of $451.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.83, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

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

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.70%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio 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.