UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Sold by Bank of New Hampshire

Bank of New Hampshire decreased its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,118 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 272 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group accounts for approximately 1.3% of Bank of New Hampshire’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Bank of New Hampshire’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $5,118,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. M&T Bank Corp raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 13.4% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 220,590 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $128,975,000 after acquiring an additional 26,074 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1,275.3% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 44,547 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $26,060,000 after purchasing an additional 41,308 shares during the last quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter valued at $21,165,000. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $558,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,061,916 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,884,019,000 after purchasing an additional 193,800 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on UNH shares. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $603.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $591.00 to $644.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, HSBC downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $627.58.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UNH traded up $2.77 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $516.44. 270,340 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,976,355. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $558.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $561.51. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $436.38 and a 1-year high of $630.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $475.27 billion, a PE ratio of 33.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.62.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.00 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $100.82 billion during 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 for the quarter 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. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.63%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 54.72%.

UnitedHealth Group 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.