Earnest Partners LLC Sells 23,659 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Earnest Partners LLC cut its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 53.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,403 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 23,659 shares during the quarter. Earnest Partners LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $10,093,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. Caprock Group LLC increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 14,256 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $7,505,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. MBL Wealth LLC grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. MBL Wealth LLC now owns 2,865 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,508,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 20.3% in the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 462 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $243,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 84,278 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $44,370,000 after buying an additional 5,023 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY now owns 14,519 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $7,644,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $591.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $566.00 to $571.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $597.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, HSBC upped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $580.00 to $610.00 in a report on Thursday, July 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $614.17.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

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

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE UNH traded down $2.97 on Monday, hitting $566.75. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,888,026 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,303,748. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $436.38 and a 1-year high of $581.50. The company’s 50-day moving average is $508.82 and its 200 day moving average is $501.19. The firm has a market cap of $521.63 billion, a PE ratio of 34.64, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.60.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.66 by $0.14. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.66% and a return on equity of 26.55%. The firm had revenue of $98.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $98.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $6.14 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th were given a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 17th. This is a boost from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.88. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio 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.