Haverford Financial Services Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Haverford Financial Services Inc. decreased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 10.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 20,278 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 2,429 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group makes up about 3.1% of Haverford Financial Services Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Haverford Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $10,258,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of UNH. NewSquare Capital LLC purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UNH has been the subject of several research reports. HSBC raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Stephens increased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Oppenheimer raised their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:UNH opened at $517.72 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52-week low of $436.38 and a 52-week high of $630.73. The stock has a market cap of $473.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. The business’s 50 day moving average is $510.19 and its 200 day moving average is $547.11. 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 (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, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The company had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.83 earnings per share. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.62%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,302,065. This represents a 28.57 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.