Coho Partners Ltd. Has $139.41 Million Stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Coho Partners Ltd. lessened its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 11.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 238,444 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 29,898 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group comprises about 5.1% of Coho Partners Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Coho Partners Ltd.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $139,414,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of UNH. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 84,405,255 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $41,755,280,000 after buying an additional 544,740 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,062,928 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $12,893,331,000 after buying an additional 94,641 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,039,601 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,094,247,000 after buying an additional 35,533 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 78,814.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,296,737 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,096,896,000 after buying an additional 5,290,025 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 30.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,816,254 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,942,956,000 after purchasing an additional 880,183 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UNH has been the subject of several analyst reports. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $604.00 to $603.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $591.00 to $644.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $615.53.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 0.9 %

UNH opened at $564.48 on Thursday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $608.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $521.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.77, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $584.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $536.49.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its 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. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 26.37%. The firm had revenue of $100.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.56 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.