UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Sold by Sawgrass Asset Management LLC

Sawgrass Asset Management LLC reduced its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 36.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 24,231 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 13,755 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group accounts for approximately 1.4% of Sawgrass Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $12,757,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in UNH. Bensler LLC grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.3% in the third quarter. Bensler LLC now owns 7,293 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,677,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX now owns 1,695 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $855,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Tealwood Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Tealwood Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,988 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,626,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. Atlas Private Wealth Advisors boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Atlas Private Wealth Advisors now owns 1,752 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $923,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. Finally, Prentice Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,347 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,235,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on UNH. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $566.00 to $571.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Barclays raised their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $534.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $591.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. StockNews.com cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $545.00 to $562.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $570.05.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total transaction of $597,581.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,527,306.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total transaction of $597,581.28. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,364 shares in the company, valued at $4,527,306.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total value of $451,127.82. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,977,233.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of UNH traded up $2.25 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $503.21. The company had a trading volume of 2,922,430 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,362,104. The company’s 50-day moving average is $481.45 and its 200-day moving average is $511.98. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $436.38 and a twelve month high of $554.70. The company has a market capitalization of $462.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.63 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $99.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.23 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 4.05% and a return on equity of 26.50%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $6.26 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.6 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a $1.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $7.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.97%.

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.