Kovack Advisors Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Kovack Advisors Inc. decreased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 1.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,695 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 77 shares during the quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $3,914,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Parthenon LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter worth approximately $284,000. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,154 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $675,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Saturna Capital Corp raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% in the third quarter. Saturna Capital Corp now owns 1,606 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $939,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6.0% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 243,140 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $142,159,000 after buying an additional 13,794 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Souders Financial Advisors raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Souders Financial Advisors now owns 11,521 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $6,736,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock traded down $6.33 on Wednesday, hitting $608.34. 608,131 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,882,065. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $582.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $547.62. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $436.38 and a 52 week high of $630.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $559.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.58.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.00 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $100.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.14 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The business’s revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.56 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.72%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UNH has been the subject of several research reports. KeyCorp started coverage on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, October 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $675.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $481.00 to $647.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Argus upped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $615.53.

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.