Welch & Forbes LLC Has $1.05 Million Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH

Welch & Forbes LLC lowered its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 5.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,362 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,049,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Frederick Financial Consultants LLC boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 12.1% during the 2nd quarter. Frederick Financial Consultants LLC now owns 835 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $260,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Greater Midwest Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 24.2% in the 2nd quarter. Greater Midwest Financial Group LLC now owns 6,379 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,990,000 after buying an additional 1,241 shares during the last quarter. Navalign LLC boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. Navalign LLC now owns 1,159 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $361,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC now owns 1,543 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $481,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 316,079 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $98,607,000 after buying an additional 10,670 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 1.0%

UNH stock opened at $341.46 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $309.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.82, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.47. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $343.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $325.81. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $234.60 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $2.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.87 by $0.05. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 19.23% and a net margin of 4.04%.The firm had revenue of $113.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $113.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $7.15 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were given a $2.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.14%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on UNH. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $406.00 price objective for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $333.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. KeyCorp raised their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $317.00 to $409.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $310.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $397.12.

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.