UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Sold by Advisors Asset Management Inc.

Advisors Asset Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 39,729 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,365 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $20,097,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. NewSquare Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth $40,000. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,302,065. This trade represents a 28.57 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 2.1 %

UNH opened at $499.01 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $456.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $436.38 and a 12 month high of $630.73. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $511.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $549.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.83 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

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 paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.68%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on UNH shares. Hsbc Global Res upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays cut their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $650.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $629.32.

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.