Haverford Trust Co Cuts Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Haverford Trust Co lowered its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 426,145 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,280 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group accounts for about 2.1% of Haverford Trust Co’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Haverford Trust Co’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $215,570,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter valued at $341,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,778,636 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,039,933,000 after acquiring an additional 180,479 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 4.1% in the third quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,461 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,116,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,763,000. Finally, Truepoint Inc. raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 45.2% in the third quarter. Truepoint Inc. now owns 1,082 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $633,000 after acquiring an additional 337 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNH has been the subject of several analyst reports. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $650.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $700.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $629.32.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,302,065. This represents a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of UNH opened at $517.72 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $510.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $546.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $436.38 and a 52 week high of $630.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $473.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.83 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.62%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.19%.

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.