Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC Has $2.35 Million Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC lessened its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 34.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,010 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 2,099 shares during the period. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $2,345,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Americana Partners LLC grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 10.8% in the third quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 20,377 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $11,914,000 after acquiring an additional 1,984 shares during the period. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.7% during the third quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC now owns 5,876 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,435,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Values Added Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.6% during the third quarter. Values Added Financial LLC now owns 995 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $582,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 16.4% during the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 206 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $121,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 8.9% during the third quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 23,726 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $13,872,000 after buying an additional 1,933 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on UNH. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays dropped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $604.00 to $603.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. TD Cowen lifted their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Hsbc Global Res lowered UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, HSBC lowered UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $615.53.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $567.56 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $436.38 and a 52 week high of $608.63. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $581.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $541.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market cap of $524.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.97, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.58.

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

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.72%.

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.